'  cr:/.. :" 


SEVENTY- FIFTH 


ANNIVERSARY 


GIFT  OF 


1797  1835  1910 

...THE... 

Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

of  the  Present  Charter  of 

Marietta  College 

*  * 

and  the  113th  of  the 
Founding  of 

Muskingum  Academy 


MARIETTA,  OHIO 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  COLLEGE 

1910 


mo 

N\'\ 


.  . »  « 

-,;-.•;: 


INTRODUCTION 


The  Diamond  Jubilee  of  Marietta  College  was  the 
greatest  occasion  in  the  history  of  the  institution.  Never 
were  so  many  Alumni  and  old  friends  present.  The  co- 
operation of  the  citizens  in  planning  a  Home-coming  for 
the  same  week,  brought  hosts  of  former  residents  back 
on  a  pilgrimage  to  this  beautiful  city,  most  of  whom  had 
ties  also  with  the  College. 

Favored  by  beautiful  weather,  by  the  presence  of 
distinguished  guests,  and  by  an  almost  flawless  carry- 
ing out  of  a  fine  and  elaborate  program,  there  was  noth- 
ing lacking  to  make  the  celebration  what  it  was  meant 
to  be,  a  dignified  and  significant  occasion. 

The  full  program  of  the  week  is  reproduced  here 
substantially  as  put  in  the  hands  of  guests  in  order  that 
a  comprehensive  view  may  be  obtained  of  the  entire  cele- 
bration. Then  the  addresses  delivered  on  Tuesday, 
Wednesday  and  Thursday  are  given  entire,  together  with 
words  of  introduction  and  response.  Thus  something 
of  the  flavor  of  the  various  meetings  is  preserved. 

Tuesday  was  made  most  notable  by  the  greetings  from 
the  State  of  Ohio,  brought  by  Governor  Jiidson  Harmon, 
who  addressed  the  citizens  on  Muskingum  Park  and  re- 
ceived a  degree  from  the  College  in  the  Old  First  Church. 

On  Wednesday  the  entire  city  joined  to  do  honor 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  William  H.  Taft. 
Upon  his  arrival  he  was  escorted  by  several  companies 
of  the  Seventh  Regiment  O.  N.  G.,  under  Col.  Harry 
D.  Knox,  to  the  home  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Mills,  where  he 


363794 


had  lunch.  The  streets  through  which  he  passed  were 
lined  with  school  children  who  waved  flags  and  threw 
flowers  into  the  street  before  him.  After  lunch  the 
President  visited  the  College  and  greeted  a  few  hundred 
people  in  the  Library.  Thence  he  was  escorted  to  the 
Park,  where  he  made  a  splendid  address  to  the  citizens, 
after  which  he  received  his  honorary  degree  in  the  church. 
Later  he  was  taken  on  an  automobile  trip  about  the  city. 
He  expressed  himself  as  highly  pleased  with  his  recep- 
tion here.  Not  a  slip  marred  the  President's  visit,  and 
special  credit  is  due  the  police  and  the  military  for  the 
admirable  manner  in  which  they  handled  the  enormous 
crowds  that  had  flocked  into  the  city  for  the  day.  The 
co-operation  of  city  officials,  Board  of  Trade,  Merchants' 
Association,  individual  citizens,  and  the  fidelity  of  var- 
ious committees  alone  made  so  perfect  a  result  possible. 

The  musical  features  of  the  Anniversary  cannot  be 
reproduced,  but  there  would  have  been  serious  deficiencies 
had  not  these  musicians  generously  contributed  their 
services.  The  concert  on  Wednesday  evening  by  the 
A  Tempo  Club  was  a  very  beautiful  rendering  of  Men- 
delssohn's Athalie,  Professor  Bard  reading  the  text  with 
fine  effect. 

Many  other  features  are  worthy  of  mention,  but  the 
following  pages  make  further  reference  unnecessary. 
The  College  would  express  its  gratitude  to  all  that  host 
of  helpers  and  friends  who  contributed  to  make  the 
Seventy-fifth  Anniversary  a  splendid  success. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  volume  will  be  a  valued  souvenir 
to  those  who  were  present,  and  a  means  of  carrying  to 
others  not  present  something  of  the  inspiration  of  a  really 
great  celebration. 


OUTLINE  PROGRAM 

OF  THE 

Seventy-Fifth  Anniversary 

JUNE  12-16,  1910 


PRELIMINARY  EVENTS 

Tuesday,  June  7,  7:30  P.  M.  Congregational  Church. 
Prize  Declamation  Contest  between  Classes  of 
1912  and  1913. 

Wednesday,  June  8,  4:00  P.  M.  Presbyterian  Church. 
Annual  Commencement  Musicale. 

Thursday,  June  9,  8  :00  P.  M.  Congregational  Church. 
Graduating  Exercises  of  the  Academy. 

Saturday,  June  11,  8  :00  P.  M.  Campus.  Student  Cele- 
bration. 


Sunday,  June  12 
BACCALAUREATE  SUNDAY 

4:00  P.  M.  Congregational  Church.  Baccalaureate 
Service.  Sermon  to  the  Graduating 
Class  by  the  President. 

8  :00  P.  M.  Congregational  Church.  Address  to  the 
Christian  Associations  by  Rev.  Arthur 
G.  Beach,  '91,  of  Ypsilanti,  Mich. 

5 


Monday,  June  13 
CLASS  DAY 

1:30  P.  M.     Campus,     Class  Day  Exercises  of  1910. 

3 :00-5 :00  P.  M.  Senior  Class  Reception  on  the  Presi- 
dent's Lawn. 

3 :00  P.  M.  Andrews  Hall.  Business  Meeting  of  the 
Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society. 

7:00  P.  M.  Congregational  Church.  Annual  Con- 
cert of  the  Glee  Club.  Professor 
Charles  G.  Goodrich,  Leader;  Profes- 
sor Herbert  D.  Bard,  Reader. 

8:30  P.  M.  Erwin  Hall.  Reunions  of  Alpha  Kappa 
and  Psi  Gamma  Literary  Societies,  in 
their  respective  halls,  with  brief  ad- 
dresses from  Alumni. 

8 :30  P.  M.  Alumni  Hall.  Reception  in  the  Marietta 
Historical  Museum,  by  the  Union  Com- 
mittee, representing  the  historical  and 
patriotic  societies  of  the  city. 

Tuesday,  June  14 
ALUMNI  DAY 

8 :30  A.  M.  Library.  Meeting  of  Board  of  Trustees. 
10:00  A.  M.  Congregational  Church.  Fiftieth  Anni- 
versary of  the  Marietta  Chapter  of  Phi 
Beta  Kappa.  W.  S.  Hancock,  '98, 
President. 

History  of  Gamma  Chapter,  Clifford  E. 
Corwin,  '92. 

Address  by  Prof.  Edwin  A.  Grosvenor, 
LL.  D.,  Amherst  College,  National 
President  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 

Miss  Flora  Mason,  Organist. 

6 


2:00  P.  M.  Congregational  Chapel.  Business  Meet- 
ing of  Alumni  Association. 

3 :00  P.  M.  Congregational  Church.  Open  Meeting 
of  Alumni  Association,  M.  A.  Hays, 
'80,  President. 

Addresses : 

The  Early  Years,  1835-1855,  Prof.  Mar- 
tin R.  Andrews,  '69,  Marietta. 

President  Andrews'  Administration,  1855- 
1885,  Rev.  William  W.  Jordan,  D.  D., 
'79,  Clinton,  Mass. 

The  Later  Years,  1885-1910,  Laurence 
N.  Dana,  '95,  Joplin,  Mo. 

Mrs.  Bertha  Metcalf,  Organist. 

5:30  P.  M.     Class  Reunions  and  Suppers. 

7 :00  P.  M.  Band  Concert  in  City  Park  by  the  Mari- 
etta Band,  followed  by  a  public  meet- 
ing, Hon.  D.  B.  Torpy,  presiding.  Ad- 
dress by  Governor  Harmon. 

8 :00  P.  M.  Congregational  Church.  Conferring  of 
Honorary  Degree  of  LL.  D.  on  Gov- 
ernor Judson  Harmon,  of  Ohio. 

Greetings  from  the  State,  by  Governor 
Harmon,  of  Ohio. 

Marietta  in  the  Civil  War,  Col.  Douglas 
Putnam,  '59,  Ashland,  Ky. 

Marietta  in  Missions,  Prof.  William  G. 
Ballantine,  D.D.,  '68,  Springfield, 
Massachusetts. 

Music  by  the  quartet  of  the  First  Metho- 
dist Church,  Mrs.  Vaughn,  Mrs.  Schar- 
lott,  Mr.  Hart,  Mr.  Schad. 


Wednesday,  June  15 
ANNIVERSARY  DAY 

8 :30  A.  M.     Academic  Procession   from  the  Campus 

to  the  Church. 
9:30  A.  M.     Congregational      Church,      Anniversary 

Service. 
Historical   Survey,    President  Alfred   T. 

Perry. 

Historical  Ode,  Muriel  C.  Dyar,  '97,  Bev- 
erly, Ohio. 

Oration:  "The  Heroism  of  Scholarship," 
Rev.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus,  D.  D.,  of 
Chicago. 

12:00  M.     Arrival  of  the  President  at  Union  Station. 
1 :30  P.  M.     Muskingum  Park.     Band  Concert. 
2 :00  P.  M.     Muskingum  Park.    Public  Meeting,  Hon. 

C.  S.    Dana,    Presiding.     Address  by 
President  Taft 

3 :00  P.  M.     Congregational  Church.     Celebration  of 

the  founding  of  Muskingum  Academy 

in  1797,  the  first  Classical  School  in 

the  Northwest  Territory. 

Conferring     of     Honorary     Degree     of 

D.  C.  L.  on  President  William  Howard 
Taft. 

Response  by  President. 

Historical  Address  by  Professor  Henry 

E.  Bourne,    B.    D.,   Western   Reserve 
University. 

Greeting  from  Yale  University,  Professor 
Williston  Walker,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Greeting  from  Ohio  Colleges,  President 
W.  O.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  of  Ohio 
State  University. 

8 


o    ~ 


8:00  P.  M.     Congregational  Church.     Concert.     Men- 
delssohn's Athalie,  rendered  by  the  A 
Tempo    Club,    James    Bird,    Director, 
and  Professor  H.  D.  Bard,  Reader. 
Mr.  Carl  Becker,  Concert-meister. 

Thursday,  June  16 
COMMENCEMENT  DAY 

9 :00  A.  M.     Band   Concert   on  the   Campus   by   the 

Marietta  Band. 
9:30  A.  M.     Academic   Procession  from  the  Campus 

to  the  Auditorium. 
10:00  A.  M.     City  Auditorium.     Graduation  Exercises 

of  the  Class  of  1910. 
Address  by  Albert  Shaw,  LL.  D.,  Editor 

of  the  Review  of  Reviews. 
Conferring  of   Degrees   and   Announce- 
ment of  Prizes. 
12 :00  M.     Goshorn  Hall.     Alumni  Banquet. 

Toastmaster,  Hon.  Charles  G.  Dawes,  '84, 

of  Chicago. 
Greetings  from  distinguished  guests,  from 

other  institutions  and  from  Alumni. 
7:00  P.  M.     Illumination  of  the  Campus. 
8 :00  P.  M.     Library.     President's  Reception  to  Alum- 
ni,   visiting    friends    and    the    public 
generally. 


TUESDAY  MORNING,  JUNE  14 

FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  MARIETTA 
CHAPTER  OF  PHI  BETA  KAPPA 


The  President  of  the  local  chapter,  Mr.  W.  S.  Han- 
cock, '98,  called  the  meeting  to  order  at  10  o'clock,  and 
acted  as  Chairman.  He  asked  Rev.  A.  S.  Carman,  D.  D., 
of  the  Rochester  Chapter,  now  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  Marietta,  to  offer  the  invocation. 

Rev.  Dr.  Carman :  O  Lord  God,  we  thank  Thee  for 
learning.  We  thank  Thee  for  learning  itself  and  for 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  immediate  cause  of  so  many  mani- 
festations in  life ;  but  we  thank  Thee  most  of  all  for  the 
process  of  learning — that  Thou  didst  not  confer  it  on 
humanity  in  a  lump,  but  didst  give  us  the  process  of 
achieving  it,  oftentimes  through  pain  and  sorrow.  We 
thank  Thee  for  this.  We  like  the  sweetness  of  pain  when 
it  is  coupled  with  a  sense  of  achievement  coming  to  one's 
soul  as  he  becomes  a  learner.  And  for  the  fellowship 
of  learning,  the  loyal  fellowship  of  learning  of  those 
who  have  struggled  and  toiled  together  along  the  difficult 
ascending  way  to  knowledge,  we  thank  Thee.  And  for 
the  history  of  the  institution  which  welcomes  us  today; 
that  it  has  ever  combined  the  things  highest  with  the 
lower  privileges  of  learning;  that  it  has  ever  united  that 
beginning  of  wisdom  which  God  has  set  before  us  with 
all  the  ultimate  things  of  human  knowledge,  we  thank 
Thee.  Grant  us,  each  one  of  us,  the  supreme  privilege 
of  adding  at  least  some  small  increment  to  the  sum  total 
of  the  world's  useful  knowledge  and  do  Thou  give  us, 
every  one  of  us,  at  last  that  supreme  blessing  involved 

11 


in  the  knowledge  of  Thee — that  some  day  by  looking 
upon  Thee  the  unsolved  problems  of  life  may  before  us 
all  become  as  plain  as  the  pages  of  an  open  book.  Bless, 
we  pray  Thee,  this  meeting.  Bless  them,  we  pray,  who 
shall  bring  us  the  message  of  the  hour,  and  those  who 
shall  take  upon  themselves  a  place  in  this  fellowship  of 
learning.  We  ask  Thy  blessing  upon  this  occasion  in 
the  name  of  Christ,  the  Supreme  Teacher:  Amen. 

President  Hancock:  The  history  of  the  Gamma 
Chapter  of  Ohio  has  been  prepared  by  the  Secretary, 
Clifford  E.  Corwin. 


12 


HISTORY  OF  GAMMA  CHAPTER  OF  OHIO 
By  Clifford  E.  Corwin,  '92 


Inasmuch  as  it  is  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  found- 
ing of  our  chapter,  it  seemed  best  to  some  of  us  that  a 
brief  history  of  it  should  be  given  at  this  time. 

The  founders  of  the  chapter  were  very  thoughtful,  as 
they  have  entered  in  the  Record  Book  an  account  of  its 
inception,  which  I  will  repeat. 

"In  the  spring  of  1860,  the  undersigned,  at  the  re- 
quest of  certain  undergraduates  of  Marietta  College,  and 
with  the  approval  of  the  faculty,  opened  a  correspondence 
with  the  Alpha  of  Connecticut,  in  Yale  College,  and 
visited  in  person  the  Alpha  of  Ohio  in  Western  Reserve 
College,  with  a  view  to  obtaining  a  charter  for  establish- 
ing a  branch  of  said  society  in  this  college. 

"He  was  duly  informed  that  no  obstacle  would  be 
interposed  by  the  above  chapters,  or  by  any  of  the  other 
Alphas,  provided  there  were  three  graduate  members  of 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  resident  in  Marietta,  uniting  in  the 
request,  this  number  being  required  by  the  original  con- 
stitution of  the  society,  to  constitute  a  new  chapter. 
Accordingly  a  petition  was  sent,  in  due  form,  to  the 
Alpha  of  Ohio,  signed  by  Prof.  John  Kendrick,  member 
of  the  Dartmouth  Chapter,  Prof.  E.  W.  Evans,  member 
of  the  Yale  Chapter,  and  T.  C.  H.  Smith,  Esq.,  member 
of  the  Harvard  Chapter,  all  of  whom,  at  that  time,  were 
resident  in  Marietta.  A  chapter  was  received  bearing  the 
date  of  the  ninth  of  June,  Anno  Domini  One  Thousand 
Eight  Hundred  and  Sixty. 

13 


"On  the  20th  of  June,  a  meeting  of  the  petitioners 
was  held  in  the  office  of  M.  D.  Follett,  when  Professor 
Kendrick  was  chosen  president  for  temporary  organiza- 
tion, and  Professor  Evans,  secretary.  The  following  per- 
sons were  elected  members  of  the  society:  President 
I.  W.  Andrews,  Martin  D.  Follett,  Professors  E.  B.  An- 
drews and  Geo.  R.  Rossiter.  At  the  second  meeting,  held 
June  23rd,  the  society  elected  as  members,  John  Follett, 
of  the  class  of  '55,  Tutors  Theodore  E.  Greenwood  and 
David  E.  Beach,  of  the  class  of  1859.  Members  of  the 
graduating  class,  T.  L.  Condit  and  R.  Marshall  Newport, 
of  the  Junior  class,  Edwin  W.  Newton  and  Russ  B. 
Brownell. 

"At  the  third  meeting,  held  June  25th,  the  under-' 
signed  was  appointed  a  committee  to  draft  a  constitution 
for  the  chapter,  and  to  report  at  the  next  meeting,  the 
second  Tuesday  in  September.  A  draft  was  accordingly 
presented  at  that  time,  which,  with  two  or  three  amend- 
ments, offered  by  Martin  Follett,  was  adopted  as  the 
Constitution  of  the  Society." 

This  Constitution  has  been  in  force  and  has  not  been 
revised  until  this  year,  1910.  At  this  same  meeting  the 
permanent  organization  was  completed  by  electing  the 
following  persons  to  the  offices:  Pres.,  Prof.  John  Ken- 
drick; Cor.  Sec.,  Prof.  E.  W.  Evans;  Rec.  Sec.,  Russ  B. 
Brownell;  Treas.,  M.  D.  Follett.  Prof.  Kendrick  con- 
tinued as  president  for  a  period  of  twenty-seven  years. 
The  later  presidents  have  been  Judge  M.  D.  Follett, 
Rev.  Dr.  George  R.  Gear,  Judge  M.  D.  Follett,  Prof. 
T.  E.  McKinney,  A.  D.  Follett,  W.  S.  Hancock,  in  the 
order  named. 

For  two  years  the  society  held  regular  monthly  meet- 
ings at  the  homes  of  its  members,  at  which  topics  of  the 
times  were  discussed.  The  stirring  events  of  those  days 
at  last  interrupted  the  meetings,  many  of  the  members 

14 


being  away  from  home,  and  the  practice  of  having  the 
meeting  held  at  commencement  was  inaugurated.  As 
early  as  1863,  the  society  secured  an  orator  for  Tuesday 
evening  of  commencement  week,  for  alternate  years  if 
possible.  This  continued  until  1890,  and  after  that 
year  no  further  mention  is  made  of  a  commence- 
ment speaker.  The  secretaries  were  not  always  careful 
to  give  the  names  of  those  speaking,  so  the  list  is  not 
complete.  The  minutes  simply  state  that  there  was 
a  tax  of  so  much  assessed  upon  each  member  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  orator.  Among  those  who  delivered 
orations  are  Gen.  T.  C.  H.  Smith,  Rev.  Wilbur  McKaig, 
Pres.  I.  W.  Andrews,  Rev.  Dr.  T.  H.  Skinner,  Rev.  Dr. 
C.  L.  Thompson,  Dr.  D.  H.  Moore,  Dr.  E.  E.  White  and 
Dr.  Washington  Gladden.  For  some  time  the  corres- 
ponding secretary  had  not  been  attending  to  his  duty. 
The  meetings  were  perfunctory,  merely  to  keep  up  the 
organization,  and  no  communications  with  any  of  the 
chapters  are  noted,  until  after  Prof.  W.  F.  Monfort  was 
elected  to  that  position.  He  was  somewhat  curious  as  to 
just  what  Phi  Beta  Kappa  really  was,  and  began  corres- 
ponding with  first  the  Alpha  of  Ohio  and  then  with  the 
National  Secretary,  and  discovered  that  the  chapter  had 
really  been  asleep  for  ten  years.  We  had  the  name  of  Phi 
Beta  Kappa,  but  we  were  not  of  it.  So  in  1895,  we 
adopted  the  National  Constitution  (a  copy  of  which  I 
have  been  unable  to  find  in  the  records),  and  began  to 
awaken,  though  we  may  be  doing  things  that  are  uncon- 
stitutional all  the  time. 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  National  Constitution,  in- 
terest in  the  society  has  been  increasing  and  efforts  have 
been  made  to  hold  meetings  at  times  other  than  com- 
mencement. February  12,  1909,  a  meeting  was  held  in 
the  Physical  Laboratory.  The  address  was  delivered  by 
Prof.  James  Arthur  Birchby  on  X-Rays  and  Other  Rays. 

15 


It  was  decided  to  adopt  the  plan  of  having  home  talent 
rather  than  an  orator  for  commencement,  every  two 
years,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  securing  an  orator. 

This  year,  no  mid-year  meeting  was  held,  because  of 
this  fiftieth  anniversary  celebration.  The  roll  of  the 
Gamma  of  Ohio  numbers  three  hundred  and  forty-seven 
names.  Many  of  those  who  have  gone  forth  have  won 
distinction  in  their  line  of  work  as  ministers,  lawyers, 
physicians  and  business  men.  The  Rev.  Charles  Little 
now  holds  the  highest  honor  in  the  gift  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church. 

While  the  society  has  been  an  incentive  to  many  in 
the  past  to  do  their  best,  as  it  grows  to  mean  more  in  the 
College  circles,  membership  will  be  more  highly  prized. 
The  aim  is,  at  this  beginning  of  the  second  fifty  years 
of  our  chapter,  to  make  membership  the  highest  possible 
prize  attainable  to  graduates  of  Marietta  College. 


President  Hancock :  We  have  the  honor  this  morn- 
ing of  having  with  us  Professor  Edwin  A.  Grosvenor, 
LL.  D.,  Amherst  College,  National  President  'of  Phi 
Beta  Kappa,  who  will  address  us  on  this  occasion,  his 
subject  being  "The  Exalted  Vocation." 


16 


THE  EXALTED  VOCATION 

By   Professor   Edwin   A.    Grosvenor,   LL.  D.,   Amherst 
College,  National  President  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 


Mr.  President  and  Members  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa, 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

I  count  it  a  distinguished  honor  at  any  time  to  stand 
upon  this  platform  as  the  guest  of  this  eminent  and  far- 
famed  institution.  I  count  it  a  further  distinction  to  take 
part  here  at  the  season  when  the  air  is  vocal  and  the 
walls  radiant  in  rejoicing  recognition  of  your  piled  up 
history. 

Marietta  College  was  founded  by  men,  broad-minded, 
sturdy,  steadfast  in  performance  of  the  present  duty, 
sublime  in  faith  and  prayer.  Other  lips  during  this  teem- 
ing week  trace  your  record  of  continuous  and  advancing 
achievement,  but  no  son  of  Massachusetts  can  be  present 
here  and  not  add  his  tribute  to  the  wreath  with  which  the 
nation  crowns  today  the  fair  brow  of  this  daughter  of 
what  was  once  the  West.  Moreover,  any  son  of  Amherst 
must  feel  gratitude  and  pride  at  the  share  which  graduates 
of  his  own  alma  mater  have  had  and  are  still  having  in 
the  life  of  this  institution  and  of  this  community.  To 
that  share  you,  sir,  gracefully  referred  when  writing  me 
a  few  days  ago.  However  great  the  traditional  Ohio  hos- 
pitality, I  recognize  that  my  cordial  welcome  here  is 
largely  due  to  the  fact  that  I  hail  from  the  same  Amherst 
which  these  fellow  alumni  of  mine  have  made  here  sig- 
nificant of  manliness  and  upright  learning. 

It  is  felicitous  that  the  Diamond  Jubilee  of  this  col- 
lege and  the  Golden  Jubilee  of  its  chapter  of  Phi  Beta 

17 


Kappa  may,  this  year,  be  celebrated  together  and  as  one. 
In  the  celebration  of  that  Golden  Jubilee  I  rejoice  to  bear 
my  distinctive  part. 

When  in  1860  this  chapter  was  established  there  were 
only  fourteen  other  chapters  in  the  United  States.  The 
Alpha  of  Virginia  had  been  recently  revived.  Otherwise, 
outside  New  England,  New  York  and  Ohio,  the  fra- 
ternity did  not  exist.  Each  chapter  was  purely  local. 
Between  the  chapters,  except  for  possible  vague  and 
shadowy  sentiment,  there  was  no  connecting  tie.  Today 
each  chapter  is  part  of  one  great  whole.  The  entire  body 
has  been  brought  together  in  a  sort  of  federal  union 
under  the  name  of  the  United  Chapters.  This  organiza- 
tion has  its  officers,  its  permanent  senate  and  its  Triennial 
Council.  Each  chapter  has  its  delegates  in  the  latter 
body,  which  is  the  representative  and  final  authority. 

It  would  be  difficult  at  present  to  name  a  single  lead- 
ing college  or  university  in  the  republic — North,  South, 
East  or  West — in  which  a  chapter  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
is  not  found. 

When  this  chapter  was  established  fifty  years  ago 
the  number  thereby  became  fifteen.  Today  there  are 
seventy-one.  Like  fortresses  they  hold  the  land  at  every 
educational  strategic  point  from  Maine  to  California, 
from  Michigan  to  Texas.  And  of  these  chapters  there 
are  more  than  fifteen  thousand  living  members. 

In  fraternal  nomenclature,  the  letter  Gamma  indicates 
not  only  a  number,  but  is  the  initial  of  Galenos,  which 
means  a  star.  Always  has  this,  your  Gamma  chapter, 
been  worthy  of  its  starry  name.  With  a  membership 
restricted  and  never  numerous,  but  with  a  scholarship 
that  was  marked  and  a  character  that  was  high,  its  in- 
fluence has  extended  and  been  felt  beyond  the  narrow 
pale  of  a  single  institution.  You,  the  members  of  this 

18 


chapter,  have  added  dignity  and  strength  to  the  fraternity 
throughout  the  land. 

It  is  my  high  privilege  at  this  hour  to  bring  con- 
gratulations, in  which  respect  and  admiration  mingle,  on 
the  part  of  the  United  Chapters  to  the  Gamma  of  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  on  the  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  its  birth. 

The  choice  of  a  subject  on  a  commencement  occasion 
is  not  easy.  And  this,  not  because  important  and  attract- 
ive topics  are  few,  but  because  they  are  so  many.  The 
present  age  seems  full  of  unrest,  turmoil  and  confusion. 
Though  the  foundations  of  the  earth  and  the  depths  of 
the  ocean  are  unmoved  and  stable,  yet  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth  and  in  the  shallows  of  the  ocean  there  is  cease- 
less agitation  and  tossing  to  and  fro.  Countless  causes 
are  insistent  to  be  presented  on  the  rostrum.  Myriads  of 
theories  are  clamorous  as  children  to  be  heard.. 

Moreover,  in  one  essential  respect,  the  lecturer  in  his 
class  room  is  more  fortunate  than  the  guest  honored  with 
the  opportunity  of  speaking  upon  some  hospitable  com- 
mencement stage.  The  class-room  lecturer  knows  that 
through  successive  months  it  will  be  his  privilege  to  meet 
again  and  again  the  same  band  of  listeners.  What  was 
left  unsaid  yesterday,  may  be  said  today.  Over  each 
day's  omission  is  spread  the  mantle  of  a  possible  tomor- 
row. But  the  visitor  is  to  occupy  probably  only  once 
any  one  college  platform,  and  but  once  look  into  the  eyes 
of  the  same  sympathetic  audience.  Each  time  he  faces 
a  company  like  this,  it  is  to  him  a  memorable,  a  momen- 
tous occasion. 

In  this  college  have  ministered  and  minister  still  great 
teachers,  rich  in  scholarly  experience  and  learning. 
Around  each  of  these  college  rooms  throng  traditions 
and  memories  of  consecration  and  heroism  and  achieve- 
ment. From  these  halls,  in  continuous  procession,  have 

19 


gone  forth,  here  equipped  for  service  in  the  world,  the 
well-trained  and  devoted.  Nowhere  else  could  be  more 
appropriate  the  subject  on  which  I  wish  to  speak,  The 
Exalted  Vocation. 

In  its  discussion  I  shall  seek  to  grapple  with  no  prob- 
lem and  indulge  in  no  abstruse  reflection.  Even  had  I 
the  ability,  I  have  no  desire  to  utter  in  this  presence  any- 
thing upon  my  subject  new  or  strange.  In  fact,  I  am 
well  aware  I  shall  say  little  not  already  familiar  to  those 
assembled  here. 

On  the  23rd  of  April,  1910,  an  American  traveler  in 
Paris  addressed  several  thousand  French  men  and  women 
who,  that  they  might  hear  him,  crowded  to  overflowing 
the  great  hall  of  the  Sorbonne.  Gathered  there  was  the 
most  brilliant  and  the  most  representative  assembly  that 
had  ever  come  together  to  listen  to  any  speaker  in  all  the 
history  of  cultured  France.  The  address  there  delivered 
might  well  serve  as  an  example  and  lesson  to  any  com- 
mencement speaker,  be  that  speaker  man  of  long  experi- 
ence and  acquaintance  with  the  world,  or  be  he  student 
of  fresh  lip  and  ruddy  cheek,  about  to  be  diplomaed. 
Above  all  might  that  address  serve  as  check  and  curb 
upon  any  man  who  in  the  pulpit  would  seek  to  startle 
and  astonish  with  eccentricity  and  innovation.  In  it  not 
a  single  hitherto  unknown  fact  was  stated  or  suggested. 
In  it  there  was  not  hinted  or  attempted  a  single  new  idea. 
Yet  it  was  not  a  speech  of  platitudes.  A  platitude  is 
something  insipid  or  weak  or  stale,  and  insipid  or  weak  or 
stale  a  truth  can  never  be.  It  might  be  called  common- 
place, in  the  sense,  and  in  no  other  sense,  in  which  we 
reckon  commonplace  such  things  as  love  and  light  and 
air.  With  incisive  energy,  with  the  dominant  force  of 
a  clean-cut,  God-fearing  personality,  the  speaker  ham- 
mered the  forever  fresh,  the  immortal  old  truths  home. 
Upon  those  French  hearts — and  all  hearts,  Gallic,  Celtic, 

20 


Teutonic,    Slavic,    American,    are    alike — he    struck    as 
Paderewski  strikes  the  keys. 

The  Exalted  Vocation!  Several  adjectives  there  are 
which  somewhat  approach  as  synonyms  to  the  word  ex- 
alted. Such  are  high,  lofty  and  august.  By  comparison 
with  them  the  exact  meaning  of  the  word  exalted  is  made 
more  clear.  High  has  reference  to  place  occupied,  and 
the  quality  of  height  self-centers  on  the  object  noted, — 
thus  a  high  pedestal,  a  high  house,  a  high  cliff.  Lofty 
indicates  distance  and  aloofness.  As  the  aloofness 
ceases,  the  loftiness  disappears.  The  lofty  mountain  is 
no  longer  lofty  when  we  stand  upon  its  peak.  August 
signifies  inspiring  awe,  or  reverence,  and  directs  attention 
to  the  effect  or  impression  produced.  Thus  the  barbarian 
Gauls  were  awe-stricken  when  they  beheld  the  august 
Senate  of  Rome.  Exalted  signifies  raised  in  rank,  posi- 
tion or  dignity.  The  elevation  it  denotes  is  due  to  the 
quality  or  character  of  the  object  it  describes.  Because 
of  that  innate  character  or  quality,  the  object  is  exalted, 
— exalted  sentiments,  an  exalted  strain. 

The  word  vocation  also  has  its  almost  synonym  in 
business  and  profession.  A  business  is  a  regular  occu- 
pation, in  which  one  engages  for  the  sake  of  material 
profit,  as  for  livelihood  or  gain.  It  is  common  to  speak 
of  a  merchant,  a  manufacturer,  a  banker,  as  a  business 
man.  A  profession  is  a  regular  occupation,  in  preparation 
for  and  discharge  of  which  scholarship  is  required.  Be- 
cause of  this  usual  preliminary  equipment,  a  clergyman, 
a  lawyer,  a  physician,  a  teacher  is  often  referred  to  as  a 
member  of  a  profession.  A  vocation  is  a  regular  occu- 
pation upon  which  one  enters  as  called  thereto  by  natural 
inclination  or  a  sense  of  duty.  Thus  Tennyson  followed 
his  vocation  when  he  wrote  In  Memoriam  and  Locksley 
Hall.  Thus  Alexander  Graham  Bell  followed  his  voca- 

21 


tion  when  he  made  of  electricity  a  servant  to  the  human 
ear. 

Each  of  these  terms,  business,  profession,  vocation,  is 
honorable.  Each  denotes  mental  rather  than  manual 
labor.  In  each  the  brain  is  master  rather  than  the  hand. 
Engagement  in  any  one  of  the  three  is  legitimate  and 
praiseworthy.  The  boundary  line  between  them  is  not 
distinct,  but  vague.  Each  trenches  upon  the  borderland 
of  the  other.  I  recall  a  friend,  a  banker  and  member  of 
the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  in  whose  daily  life  are 
combined  all  three.  I  count  him  one  of  the  happiest  of 
men.  On  the  other  hand  many  a  man  enters  upon  a  pro- 
fessional career  for  the  sole  hope  of  livelihood  or  material 
profit.  To  him  law,  medicine,  theology,  teaching,  is 
mainly,  perhaps  purely,  a  means  to  an  end.  At  him  let 
us  not  cast  a  stone.  Let  us  not  call  him  mercenary  or 
sordid.  The  struggle  for  existence  always  has  been,  and 
doubtless  always  will  be,  hard.  Most  men,  like  Horatio 
at  the  bridge,  are  battling,  not  so  much  for  themselves 
as  for  their  own.  And  yet,  when  all  is  said,  the  fact 
remains  that  there  is  regular  occupation  which  is  business, 
other  regular  occupation  which  is  profession,  and  still 
other  regular  occupation  which  is  vocation.  The  last  is 
exercised  under  various  forms,  each  of  which  is  a  definite 
vocation  of  itself.  From  these  various  vocations  there 
is  specifically  one  to  which,  because  of  the  unselfishness 
of  its  motives,  the  breadth  of  its  aims,  and  the  perma- 
nence of  its  influence,  I  would  apply  with  all  the  splendor 
of  its  full  significance  the  term  exalted. 

In  1900  there  were  registered  in  the  common  schools 
of  the  United  States  more  than  17,000,000  pupils.  In 
all  the  institutions  of  learning — primary,  secondary,  col- 
legiate, postgraduate,  technical,  special — there  are  over 
20,000,000  today.  In  multitude  they  exceed  the  entire 
population  of  the  country  when  James  K.  Polk  was 

22 


elected  President.  Over  them  are  placed  more  than  525,- 
000  teachers.  In  this  number  are  included  the  professors 
in  our  colleges,  universities,  seminaries,  and  other  insti- 
tutions of  advanced  study.  There  are  fourteen  states  of 
the  American  Union  which  in  1900  had  not  525,000  in- 
habitants. There  were  four  states  which,  combined,  had 
not  so  many.  Under  the  command  of  the  525,000  the 
vastest  enrolled  and  disciplined  army  of  boys  and  girls,  of 
young  men  and  young  women,  on  which  in  any  land  the 
sun  has  ever  looked  down,  is  marching  on.  No  other 
sound  equally  significant  can  reach  the  ear  as  the  tramp, 
tramp,  tramp  of  their  advancing  feet.  The  half  million 
in  the  van,  whom  we  call  teachers,  are  the  arbiters  and 
the  shapers  of  their  destiny.  No  other  hands  are  so 
potential!  No  other  voices  reach  so  far! 

Among  them  are  some  to  whom  teaching  is  a  tem- 
porary employment  and  not  a  vocation.  Soldiers  they 
are,  but  enlisted  merely  for  a  one-month's  or  three- 
months'  campaign  and  not  for  the  war.  They  are  men 
and  women  whose  life  work  is  awaiting  in  other  fields 
and  whom  their  present  task,  well  performed,  aids  in 
their  personal  development  and  in  their  future  support. 
Of  such  was  "The  Master  of  the  District  School"  in 
Whittier's  "Snowbound." 

"A  careless  boy  that  night  he  seemed 

But  at  his  desk  he  had  the  look 
And  air  of  one  who  wisely  schemed 
And  hostage  from  the  future  took 
In  trained  thought  and  love  of  book. 
Large-brained,  clear-eyed — of  such  as  he 
Shall  Freedom's  young  apostles  be." 

From  the  ranks  of  such  temporary  teachers  have  come 
such  men  as  Grover  Cleveland  and  James  G.  Elaine  and 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  and  such  women  as  that  gracious 

23 


lady  whom  we  hail  today  as  the  first  lady  of  the  land, 
the  wife  of  President  Taft. 

The  great  majority  of  that  resistless  host  of  525,000 
souls  are  volunteers  who  have  accepted  permanent  service. 
The  most  anticipate  no  other  post  of  honor  than  the 
teacher's  desk.  Pecuniary  or  political  allurement  have 
not  influenced  their  deliberate  choice.  All  such  considera- 
tions would  have  tended  to  an  opposite  decision.  The 
man  who  becomes  a  teacher  knows  that  wealth  can  sel- 
dom be  his.  Large  annual  revenue  must  be  derived  from 
other  sources  than  teaching.  Even  the  best  paid  positions 
in  high  schools  and  colleges  are  comparatively  few.  Such 
positions  are  in  general  obtained  only  after  weary  and 
expensive  years  of  struggle  and  preparation.  Even  then 
the  remuneration  is  less  than  the  income  of  a  successful 
lawyer  or  physician  or  than  the  salary  of  many  a  minister. 
The  professor,  even  in  institutions  endowed  by  the  munifi- 
cence of  a  Rockefeller  or  a  Carnegie,  receives  smaller  pay 
than  does  the  culinary  chef  in  the  great  metropolitan 
hotels. 

To  the  teacher  the  road  of  political  preferment  is  well 
nigh  shut.  Teachers,  as  Andrew  D.  White  and  David 
Jayne  Hill  and  Eben  Alexander,  have  sometimes  repre- 
sented the  United  States  at  some  foreign  court.  Their 
rare  diplomatic  service  has  been  honorable  to  their  coun- 
try and  themselves.  But,  outside  of  diplomacy,  seldom 
have  teachers  held  high  elective  or  appointive  office.  In 
the  Federal  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  there  is 
generally  a  physician  or  two,  occasionally  a  minister, 
almost  never  a  teacher.  The  law  is  the  broad  avenue  of 
political  opportunity.  In  the  present  Congress  there  are 
ninety-two  senators;  fifty  are  members  of  the  bar.  So, 
too,  are  two  hundred  and  twelve  out  of  the  three  hundred 
and  ninety-one  representatives.  The  presidents  of  the 
United  States  and  the  state  governors  show  a  still  larger 

24 


proportion  of  the  legal  profession.  Of  the  twenty-six 
presidents  all  have  been  lawyers  except  five.  Of  the  six 
chief  magistrates  from  Ohio,  the  latter-day  mother  of 
the  presidents,  Hayes,  Garfield,  Benjamin  Harrison,  Mc- 
Kinley  and  Taft — all  except  Grant — are  lawyers. 

Wealth,  power,  fame  are  proper  objects  of  ambition. 
Their  value  is  confessed  by  every  honest  man.  They  are 
not  indeed  in  the  reach  of  all.  But  the  men  and  women, 
now  teachers,  are  at  least  as  clever  and  intelligent  as  the 
average  of  human  beings  and  might  have  won  their  due 
proportion  of  popular  distinction  and  honor  and  money. 
Only  they  would  have  been  compelled  to  give  up  teach- 
ing. They  did  not  disdain  the  objects  of  material  good. 
They  merely  disregarded  them  and  passed  them  by. 
They  aspired  to  higher  things.  Like  Melanion,  in  pur- 
suit of  Atlanta,  in  order  to  win  the  worthier  prize,  they 
left  the  apples  of  gold. 

But  these  teachers  are  not  ascetic,  mediaeval  saints 
who  have  let  go  of  the  pleasures  of  earth  so  as  to  get 
a  tighter  grip  on  the  possibilities  of  Heaven.  Even  on 
this  earth,  before  they  die,  in  their  daily  work,  "Tread- 
ing with  noiseless  feet  the  round  of  uneventful  years," 
they  have  had  and  are  having  their  abundant  reward. 
In  the  mere  luxury  of  living  in  constant  association  with 
the  unspoiled,  the  untainted  and  the  young;  in  tender 
appreciation  of  efforts  made  and  simple  services  rendered ; 
in  the  ceaseless  gilding  of  the  realities  of  life;  I  can  con- 
ceive of  no  other  earthly  occupation  that  offers  so  much 
of  happiness  and  joy  as  falls  to  the  teacher's  lot. 

This,  however,  is  considering  the  subject  on  the  sel- 
fish side.  This  is  presenting  only  the  subjective  point 
of  view.  It  has  to  do,  not  with  what  one  gives  and  does, 
but  rather  with  what  one  receives.  It  is  like  counting 
the  nightly  pay  of  the  laborer  rather  than  gazing  enrap- 
tured at  the  majestic,  broad-spanned  cathedral  that  he 

25 


builds.  The  consciousness  of  attempt,  and  of  approach  to 
realization,  is  more  precious  than  the  consciousness  of 
anything  received. 

"To  read  history  in  a  nation's  eyes."  In  consequence 
of  the  teacher  is  the  glorious  history  there.  Aristotle 
shaped  Alexander,  Alcuin  fashioned  Charlemagne.  The 
teachers — Luther  and  Melancthon  at  Wittenberg,  Bucer 
at  Cambridge,  Beza  at  Geneva,  Knox  at  St.  Andrews — 
renovated  the  world.  No  other  human  being  has  so  pro- 
foundly affected  humanity  as  Socrates,  peerless  teacher 
of  Plato  and  Aristotle  and  of  all  subsequent  time. 

Yet,  nowhere  is  the  influence  of  the  teacher  so  far- 
reaching  and  so  titanic  as  at  the  present  day,  and  in  the 
United  States.  He  is  the  king  in  the  college  and  in  the 
common  school.  He  binds  and  unifies  the  American  peo- 
ple. Through  the  school  he  solves  the  problems  and 
overcomes  the  dangers  of  indiscriminate  immigration. 
What  any  other  or  all  other  agencies  would  be  powerless 
to  accomplish,  he  effects.  Because  of  him  no  grim  specter 
of  the  fanatic  or  the  atheist  lurks  in  the  temple  of  the 
Union,  able  to  dehumanize  the  character  of  the  people  or 
to  sap  its  faith  in  God.  No  such  hideous  spectacle  is  pos- 
sible in  America. 

"Nor  dread  the  bigot's  iron  rule 
When,  by  the  church-spire,  stands  the  school; 
Nor  fear  the  skeptic's  puny  hands, 
When,  by  the  school,  the  church-spire  stands." 

The  founders  of  the  world's  faiths  have  almost  always 
come  as  teachers,  never  as  lawyers,  never  as  physicians, 
seldom  as  priests.  Specially  is  this  true  of  Christianity. 
The  whole  attitude  of  Christ  toward  the  Twelve  was  that 
of  a  teacher  toward  his  class.  The  term,  priest  or  high 
priest,  as  applying  to  the  Savior,  is  nowhere  employed 

26 


in  the  Gospels  and  in  no  'book  of  the  New  Testament 
except  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  We  speak  of  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount.  But  as  Matthew  describes  the  scene 
and  narrates  the  story,  the  evangelist  begins  the  record 
with  the  sentence,  "His  disciples  came  unto  Him  and  He 
taught  them  saying."  In  like  manner,  that  word  taught 
is  ninety-seven  times  employed  by  Christ  or  used  in  refer- 
ence to  what  he  said.  In  the  accepted  English  version  of 
the  Scriptures  the  words,  Master  and  disciple,  obscure  the 
simple  meaning  of  the  Greek  words,  didaskalos  and 
mathetes.  Forty-seven  times  didaskalos  occurs  in  the 
Gospels,  always,  with  one  exception,  correctly  rendered 
teacher  except  when  referring  to  Christ.  When  applying 
to  the  Savior,  the  reverent  inaccuracy  of  the  translator 
seeks  an  equivalent  in  the  term  Master.  The  evangelists 
employ  the  word  mathetes,  singular  or  plural,  more  than 
two  hundred  times.  Its  first  meaning  is  learner,  then 
pupil,  student,  scholar.  Again  the  translator  searches 
for  an  equivalent  less  familiar,  more  formal  and  remote. 
He  finds  it  in  the  term  disciple.  But  a  truer  significance, 
more  tender  and  more  exact,  would  be  given  the  sacred 
story  were  always  in  our  Bibles  the  word  teacher,  sub- 
stituted for  master,  and  the  word  learner  or  pupil,  for 
disciple. 

Thus  is  emphasized  the  fact,  declared  by  Nicodemus, 
that  the  Messiah  was  a  teacher  sent  from  God.  Above 
all  other  human  callings  is  that  vocation  exalted,  in  the 
guise  of  which  the  Savior  of  mankind  fulfilled  his  mission. 

Five  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  is  an  immense 
army.  A  number  so  vast  must  include  every  possible 
temperament  and  every  conceivable  personal  trait.  Their 
individual  experiences  must  be  of  every  kind.  Little  can 
have  befallen  the  sons  of  men  which,  in  some  way,  has  not 
come  to  some  one  of  them.  So,  despite  the  exaltation 
and  dignity  of  their  vocation,  it  would  not  be  strange 

27 


if  there  were  some  among  them,  perhaps  many,  whom  the 
long  years  are  leaving  discouraged,  despondent,  well  nigh 
hopeless.  They  cannot  see  nor  realize  what  sheaves  are 
garnered  from  the  seed  they  have  sown.  Nor  can  they 
always  take  home  the  truth  that  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest 
knows.  For  every  discouraged  man  or  woman  who  has 
done  his  best  there  is  a  marvelous  allegory  in  Beatrice 
Haraden's  "Ships  Which  Pass  in  the  Night." 

Failure  and  Success  passed  away  from  Earth,  and 
found  themselves  in  a  Foreign  Land.  Success  still  wore 
her  laurel  wreath  which  she  had  won  on  earth.  Failure's 
head  was  bowed;  no  laurel  wreath  encircled  it.  Her  face 
was  wan,  and  pain-engraven.  She  had  once  been  beau- 
tiful and  hopeful,  but  she  had  long  since  lost  both  hope 
and  beauty.  They  stood  together,  these  two,  waiting  for 
an  audience  with  the  Sovereign  of  the  Foreign  Land. 
An  old  gray-haired  man  came  to  them  and  asked  their 
names. 

"I  am  Success/'  said  Success,  advancing  a  step  for- 
ward, and  smiling  at  him,  and  pointing  to  her  laurel 
wreath.  He  shook  his  head.  "Ah,"  he  said,  "do  not  be 
too  confident.  Very  often  things  go  by  opposites  in  this 
land.  What  you  call  Success,  we  often  call  Failure ;  what 
you  call  Failure,  we  call  Success." 

Then  he  turned  to  Failure.  "And  your  name?"  he 
asked  kindly,  though  indeed  he  must  have  known  it. 
"I  am  Failure,"  she  said  sadly.  He  took  her  by  the  hand. 
"Come  now,  Success,"  he  said  to  her,  "let  me  lead  you 
into  the  Presence-Chamber." 

Then  she  who  had  been  called  Failure,  and  was  now 
called  Success,  lifted  up  her  bowed  head,  and  raised 
her  weary  frame,  and  smiled  at  the  music  of  her  new 
name.  And  with  that  smile  she  regained  her  beauty 
and  her  hope.  And  hope  having  come  back  to  her,  all 
her  strength  returned. 

28 


"Come  now,"  the  old  man  whispered,  "we  must  not 
linger."  So  she  of  the  new  name  passed  into  the 
Presence-Chamber. 

But  the  Sovereign  said :  "The  world  needs  you,  dear 
and  honored  worker.  You  know  your  real  name,  do  not 
heed  what  the  world  may  call  you.  Go  back  and  work, 
but  take  with  you  this  time  unconquerable  hope." 

So  she  went  back  and  worked,  taking  with  her  un- 
conquerable hope,  and  the  sweet  remembrance  of  the 
Sovereign's  words,  and  the  gracious  music  of  her  Real 
name. 

A  friend  of  mine  was  a  soldier  in  the  Bulgarian 
Legion,  which  defeated  the  Turks  in  the  desperate  battle 
of  the  Shipka  Pass.  Often  I  have  begged  him  to  describe 
the  fight,  but  there  was  little  he  could  tell.  One  day  I 
said :  "Did  you  soldiers  realize  what  a  sublime  picture  you 
made  up  there,  firing  and  striking  and  dying  above  the 
clouds?"  He  replied,  "None  of  us  had  time  to  think 
how  we  looked  or  how  high  up  we  were.  We  only  knew 
we  were  fighting  hard."  Then  he  added,  "But  at  last 
we  did  know  that  we  had  won  the  fight." 


PRESENTATION  OF  CERTIFICATES  OF 
MEMBERSHIP  TO  NEW  MEMBERS 


President  Hancock:  The  initiates  of  the  Class  of 
1910  are  to  be  doubly  honored  by  receiving  from  the 
hands  of  the  National  President  their  certificates.  Pro- 
fessor Grosvenor  has  kindly  consented  to  make  these 
presentations. 

Professor  Grosvenor :  I  count  this  a  special  privilege. 
It  is  a  privilege  anyway  to  speak  to  a  gathering  of  Phi 
Beta  Kappas.  But  I  count  as  privilege  any  duties  that 
fall  to  my  lot  as  President  of  this  body,  and  nothing  could 
give  me  greater  pleasure  than  coming  into  this  Chapter 
where  I  am  also  President.  It  is  so  commonly  forgotten 
that  initiates  are  becoming  members  not  only  of  the 
Chapter  that  helps  to  strengthen  their  own  institution, 
but  they  become  fellow  members  in  an  assembly  the  like 
of  which  exists  in  no  other  country  under  the  sun. 
Nearly  16,000  men  and  women  make  up  this  array. 
There  are  many  colleges  where  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  exists 
and  where  its  members  would  be  equally  useful  to  society 
if  they  were  not  members  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa;  but 
nevertheless  the  fact  remains  that  you  cannot  point  to 
any  association,  even  exceeding  in  numbers  this  associa- 
tion of  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  which  approaches  in  numbers 
serving  their  country  and  church  and  generation  those 
who  wear  our  golden  key.  I  would  prefer  myself  that 
your  honored  President  should  make  these  remarks  and 
preside  here;  nevertheless  I  esteem  it  a  very  great  cour- 
tesy and  honor  on  his  part  to  give  me  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  you  and  presenting  you  with  these  diplomas,  and 

30 


I  congratulate  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  come  to  in- 
crease the  strength  and  renown  of  the  Marietta  Chapter, 
which  is  well  known  over  the  land,  and  to  contribute  their 
part  to  this  mighty  organization,  which  embraces  more 
than  three  score  colleges  and  universities. 
I  will  proceed  to  present  these  diplomas. 

[Certificates  were  thereupon  presented  to  the  follow- 
ing persons:  Alfred  Morris  Perry,  William  Gerken 
O'Brien,  Arthur  Reeder  Probst,  David  Rees  Williams, 
Nels  Christensen,  John  L.  Brickwede,  Miss  Bessie  Mae 
Painter,  Miss  Mary  McCabe  Frost,  and  Miss  Marjorie 
Belle  Coar.] 

Professor  Grosvenor :  Let  me  extend  to  you  all  hap- 
piness and  honor  in  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 


31 


TUESDAY  AFTERNOON,  JUNE  14 

ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  MARIETTA  COLLEGE 
ALUMNI  ASSOCIATION 


The  business  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  chapel.  The  public  meeting  was  opened 
in  the  church  at  three  o'clock  by  the  President,  Myron  A. 
Hays,  '80,  of  New  York. 

President  Hays :  We  have  with  us  Dr.  Charles  Little, 
who  has  recently  been  given  the  highest  honor  possible 
to  bestow  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  having  been  made 
Moderator  of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly.  He 
will  offer  the  invocation. 

Dr.  Little :  Our  Father  and  our  God,  we  thank  Thee 
for  these  friendly  skies  under  which  we  can  gather  in 
these  days,  and  we  ask  if  it  be  Thy  Will,  so  to  guide 
the  course  of  the  clouds  at  this  time  that  the  enjoyment 
of  these  anniversary  occasions  may  not  be  impaired.  We 
thank  Thee  for  this  week — what  it  has  been  and  assur- 
ances of  what  it  is  to  be.  We  thank  Thee  for  this  Col- 
lege; for  institutions  of  learning  elsewhere  and  every- 
where, but  we  rejoice  especially  in  this  one,  so  dear  to  our 
minds,  so  closely  identified  with  the  memories  of  all  of 
us.  We  would  call  down  blessings  upon  all  who  have 
been  students  here  and  are  now  laboring  in  any  position 
in  life  to  which  they  have  been  assigned.  If  there  be 
some  who  have  prospered,  bless  them;  if  there  are  some 
who  are  enduring  privations  in  their  own  quiet  way  and 
still  doing  the  best  they  can,  we  ask  the  blessing  of  God 
upon  them. 

32 


We  pray  Thee  that  our  memories  may  be  chastened 
and  that  we  may  give  to  this  institution  all  the  loyalty 
and  love  of  which  we  are  capable. 

We  would  also  honor  the  men  who  have  been  in- 
structors in  this  institution  and  who  have  had  this  great 
responsibility  upon  them.  We  thank  Thee  for  those  who 
have  served  their  time  as  instructors  and  have  gone  on 
to  receive  the  blessings  in  store  for  them  on  the  other 
side. 

Be  with  these  friends  who  shall  speak  to  us.  Be  with 
all  of  us  as  we  come  and  go;  and  when  we  have  done 
here,  call  us  to  that  higher  and  greater  Instructor  on  the 
other  shore,  and  Thy  Name  shall  always  have  the  praise. 
Amen. 

President  Hays:  Before  we  begin  our  regular  pro- 
gram, I  think  it  will  give  us  pleasure  to  listen  to  a  brief 
announcement  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  College,  Mr.  W. 
W.  Mills. 

Mr.  Mills:  Mr.  President  and  Friends:  The 
report  that  the  Treasurer  read  this  morning  to  the 
Trustees  had  something  of  encouragement  in  it,  and  the 
President  of  the  College  requested  that  I  read  a  portion 
of  it  here,  and  others  followed  with  the  same  request. 
I  wish  to  say  that  this  is  not  of  my  own  seeking,  and  it 
does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  just  exactly  the  place  for  the 
presentation  of  this  report  because  it  is  trespassing  upon 
the  time  of  others.  But  if  you  wish  to  hear  something  of 
what  the  Treasurer  had  to  say,  it  will  be  my  pleasure  to 
give  it  to  you. 

I  think  it  unwise  to  read  all  of  this  report  because 
it  is  printed  and  copies  will  no  doubt  be  handed  to  you, 
but  that  part  you  are  particularly  interested  in  will  be 

33 


mentioned  here,  and  it  is  that  which  has  to  do  with 
the  raising  of  the  endowment  fund. 

It  was  proposed  by  the  Treasurer  about  a  year  ago 
that  an  endowment  fund  of  $300,000  be  raised  by  May 
31,  1911,  and  if  enough  had  not  been  raised  by  May  31, 
1910,  to  justify  the  hope  of  raising  the  entire  amount, 
then  the  expenses  should  be  reduced  to  more  nearly  cor- 
respond to  the  income.  I  also  recommended  that  effort 
be  made  to  secure  special  gifts  for  expenses  during  the 
period  of  raising  the  endowment.  Both  of  these  recom- 
mendations were  approved  by  the  Board,  but  practically 
no  progress  was  made  in  carrying  out  either  recommenda- 
tion until  after  the  mid-year  meeting  of  the  Board,  Janu- 
ary 29,  1910. 

During  commencement  of  1909  two  pledges  of  $1,000 
each  to  the  proposed  endowment  were  made,  and  at  that 
time  and  during  the  succeeding  months,  a  number  of 
pledges  to  the  Deficit  Prevention  Fund  were  made.  This 
so-called  Deficit  Prevention  Fund  was  intended  to  pro- 
vide for  the  expenses  during  the  period  that  the  endow- 
ment fund  of  $300,000  was  being  raised.  The  amount 
received  from  this  source  during  the  year  was  $7,226.83. 
About  the  first  of  February  a  vigorous  campaign  was 
entered  upon  to  secure  pledges  for  the  $300,000  endow- 
ment and  enough  progress  has  been  made  to  warrant 
the  Treasurer  in  reporting  "that  sufficient  funds  have 
been  pledged  to  justify  the  hope  of  raising  the  entire 
amount/'  On  March  1,  1910,  the  first  pledge  for  a 
considerable  amount  was  obtained. 

During  April,  the  following  letter  from  the  Private 
Secretary  of  Andrew  Carnegie  was  received : 

84 


New  York,  April  22,  1910. 
W.  W.  Mills,  Esq., 

Treasurer  Marietta  College, 

Marietta,  Ohio. 

Dear  Sir :  Mr.  Carnegie  has  read  yours  of  March  2d 
and  other  communications  about  Marietta  College.  He 
would  be  glad  to  provide  the  last  Twenty-five  Thousand 
Dollars  of  the  proposed  Three  Hundred  Thousand  Dollar 
additional  endowment  when  you  have  the  other  Two 
Hundred  and  Seventy-five  Thousand  Dollars  collected 
in  cash  or  realizable  securities.  He  thinks  this  contribu- 
tion is  sufficient  to  show  his  interest  in  your  institution 
considering  that  he  has  already  provided  Forty  Thousand 
Dollars  for  a  Library  building. 

Respectfully  yours, 

JAMES  BERTRAM, 

P.  Secretary. 

This  was  followed  by  the  grant  on  May  24th  by  the 
General  Education  Board  of  $60,000.00,  conditioned  on 
the  raising  of  a  supplemental  sum  of  $240,000.00  and 
the  payment  of  all  the  debts  of  the  institution.  The 
total  amount  of  pledges  made  by  Alumni  and  other 
friends  of  the  institution  to  the  endowment  to  date  is 
$171,000.00.  Accordingly  the  aggregate  of  all  pledges 
to  the  Seventy-fifth  Anniversary  Endowment  Fund  is 
$256,000.00.  In  order  to  secure  the  gifts  of  Andrew 
Carnegie  and  the  General  Education  Board,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  raise  $44,000.00  more  and  pay  the  debt 
of  the  College.  The  debt  is,  as  herewith  reported, 
$32,580.94.  To  prevent  a  deficit  during  the  fiscal  year 
closing  May  31,  1911,  we  should  raise  not  less  than 
$8,419.06,  making  a  total  of  $85,000.00  that  must  be 
obtained  by  May  31,  1911.  In  other  words,  we  must, 
in  order  to  secure  the  gifts  of  the  General  Education 

35 


Board  and  Andrew  Carnegie,  aggregating  $85,000.00, 
raise  during  the  year  a  like  amount;  viz.,  $85,000.00. 

This  is  the  task  immediately  before  us.  If  the  Trus- 
tees, Alumni  and  friends  of  the  institution  will  help, 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  entire  amount. 

President  Hays:  At  the  beginning  of  the  business 
session  of  the  Alumni  a  while  ago  I  remarked  that,  from 
the  interest  displayed  this  year  at  commencement  and 
from  the  reports  of  the  condition  of  our  Association, 
I  hoped  that  my  administration  for  the  last  year  had 
been  endorsed. 

It  seems  to  me  that  a  man  who  has  had  the  privilege 
of  being  president  of  this  Association,  could  not  have 
had  that  privilege  in  any  year  when  it  would  give  him 
so  much  pleasure  as  this  year.  From  the  report  we 
have  just  heard,  it  looks  like  a  good  way  to  celebrate 
the  seventy-fifth  anniversary. 

We  have  been  looking  forward  for  three  or  four  years 
to  this  occasion1 — to  this  seventy-fifth  anniversary.  The 
friends  of  the  College  have  hoped  and  expected  that 
it  would  mark  a  new  epoch  in  the  institution's  history. 
When  an  institution  or  a  nation,  or  any  other  organiza- 
tion, begins  a  new  epoch,  I  think  it  is  well  to  look  over 
the  years  of  its  past.  Our  committees  have  divided  the 
last  seventy-five  years  into  three  periods,  and  have  selected 
some  of  our  best  known  Alumni  to  speak  on  each  one 
of  these  periods. 

The  first  address  is  "The  Early  Years  of  Marietta 
College";  that  is,  the  years  from  1835  to  1855.  I  see 
that  the  man  who  is  to  deliver  that  address  is  put  down 
as  of  the  class  of  '69.  Some  of  us  who  have  known  him 
for  a  number  of  years  feel  very  sure,  I  am  certain,  that 
his  year  must  go  back  to  the  year  1835 — the  time  of 
the  founding  of  the  institution.  Professor  Martin  R. 
Andrews,  of  '69 : 


THE  EARLY  YEARS— 1835-1855. 
By   Professor  Martin  Register  Andrews,   '69. 


Mr.  President,  Alumni,  and  Friends: 

My  knowledge,  Mr.  President,  does  go  back  a  little 
beyond  '69,  but  during  those  early  years  my  personal 
knowledge  only  extends  to  the  sound  of  the  boys  halloo- 
ing beyond  the  high  fence.  I  never  dared  venture  inside 
during  those  years. 

In  that  which  is  termed  the  "Second  Annual  Report 
of  the  Trustees  of  Marietta  College,"  published  in  Sep- 
tember, 1835,  it  is  announced  that,  "Since  the  last  report, 
the  Board  have  received  from  the  legislature  of  the  state 
a  new  charter,  by  which  the  name  of  the  institute  is 
changed  from  'Marietta  Collegiate  Institute  and  Western 
Teachers'  Seminary'  to  'Marietta  College,'  and  all  powers 
that  belong  to  the  teachers  of  other  colleges  are  conferred 
upon  them.  No  change  takes  place  in  the  internal  organ- 
ization of  the  institution  in  consequence  of  the  change  of 
name."  It  is  not  strange  that  those  who  had  charge  of 
this  educational  work  in  Marietta  in  1835  should  regard 
it  as  only  a  continuation  of  the  past.  There  was  no  new 
name  in  the  Board  of  Trustees,  the  same  professors  re- 
mained in  charge  of  the  departments.  Mr.  Douglas 
Putnam  continued  to  be  the  efficient  secretary  and 
Mr.  John  Mills  the  faithful  treasurer.  The  most  im- 
portant change  noted  is  that  the  blank  left  in  the  report 
of  1834,  opposite  the  title  of  "President,"  is  filled  by 
the  name  of  Rev.  Joel  H.  Linsley. 

37 


One  other  important  statement  is  made  in  this  sec- 
ond report — that  "nearly  twenty  thousand  dollars  have 
been  raised  in  this  neighborhood."  While  not  forgetful 
of  generous  donors  from  abroad,  we  must  ever  remember 
with  deep  gratitude  that  in  all  the  history  of  Marietta 
College  there  have  been  tried  and  true  friends  in  the 
neighborhood  who  have  generously  given  not  only  their 
treasure,  but  themselves  to  the  promotion  of  her  best 
interests.  Through  father,  son,  and  grandson  of  more 
than  one  family  among  the  prominent  business  men  of 
Marietta  we  may  trace  the  descent  of  Marietta  College 
from  Muskingum  Academy.  When,  in  1848,  President 
Smith  reported  that  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  had 
been  raised  within  the  year  for  the  benefit  of  the  College, 
he  said  that  more  than  half  of  the  amount  had  been  given 
by  friends  in  Washington  County. 

When  we  look  over  the  short  list  of  instructors  em- 
ployed in  the  early  years  of  this  College  and  then  consider 
the  results  accomplished  by  that  select  little  group,  we 
must  confess  that  they  confirm  the  wisdom,  or  at  least 
the  good  fortune  of  the  selections.  Four  of  the  early 
instructors — Smith,  Allen,  Jewett,  and  Maxwell — were 
recent  graduates  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary.  This 
little  group  did  honor  to  their  alma  mater  as  well  as  to 
the  new  institution  they  helped  to  found  in  the  Middle 
West.  So  great  was  the  confidence  of  the  Trustees  of 
Marietta  Collegiate  Institute  in  the  future  of  the  school 
they  were  planting  on  the  borders  of  the  wilderness 
that  they  were  willing  to  send  Professor  Smith  to  Europe 
to  continue  his  studies  for  a  year  without  diminution  of 
salary.  If  there  be  another  example  in  the  history  of 
colleges  of  that  day  of  such  confidence  in  the  future,  I 
have  not  yet  found  any  record  of  it.  The  investment 
proved  a  good  one  for  the  young  college.  Professor 
(afterwards  President)  Smith  repaid  the  investment 

38 


with  generous  interest  in  the  twenty  years  he  gave  to 
the  College.  As  a  teacher  and  writer,  he  won  the  admi- 
ration and  honor  of  students  and  scholars;  as  a  pulpit 
orator,  he  was  eagerly  sought,  both  in  the  East  and  in 
the  new  West ;  was  deemed  a  worthy  successor  of  Lyman 
Beecher,  and  was  invited  to  go  to  Lane  Seminary.  The 
new  position  he  did  not  accept  until  he  had  made  another 
visit  to  Europe,  and  with  the  money  furnished  him  by 
the  trustees  had  added  many  priceless  treasures  to  Mari- 
etta College  Library. 

Professor  Milo  P.  Jewett,  another  of  the  quartette 
called  to  Marietta  in  that  day  of  beginnings,  did  not 
remain  many  years  in  Marietta,  yet  he  was  here  long 
enough  to  be  associated  with  Professor  Calvin  E.  Stowe 
and  William  Lewis  in  persuading  the  Legislature  of  Ohio 
to  found  a  system  of  free  schools.  Even  before  this  he 
had  lectured  on  common  schools  in  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, and  New  Hampshire.  Perhaps  the  greatest 
work  of  his  useful  life  was  the  founding  of  Vassar  Col- 
lege, of  which  he  was  the  first  president,  for  his  wisdom, 
experience,  and  enthusiasm  were  as  necessary  to  the 
success  of  the  new  enterprise  as  the  pecuniary  wealth 
he  had  persuaded  Mr.  Vassar  to  bequeath  to  that 
purpose. 

Professor  Allen  and  Principal  Maxwell,  in  their  long 
and  useful  career  as  teachers,  proved  the  wisdom  of  their 
selection. 

A  little  later  it  was  the  fortune  of  President  Mark 
Hopkins  to  make  one  of  the  most  valuable  offerings 
to  the  new  College.  Some  one  in  Marietta  had  written 
to  him  asking  about  a  young  man  who  was  thought  to 
be  a  suitable  person  for  tutor  in  the  College.  President 
Hopkins  went  beyond  the  questions  asked  him,  and  told 
the  inquirer  of  another  graduate  of  Williams  College, 
whom  he  especially  recommended  as  well  fitted  for  the 


place.  The  recommendation  was  heeded  'by  the  author- 
ities at  Marietta,  and  Israel  Ward  Andrews  was  invited 
to  come  and  fill  the  vacancy.  Thus  did  Mark  Hopkins, 
by  his  prudence  and  discernment,  do  more  than  any  other 
man  to  plant  a  Williams  College  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio. 

We  might  name  other  instructors  who  came  to  Mari- 
etta College  before  the  close  of  the  first  twenty  years  of 
her  history,  but  the  examples  already  given  will  serve  to 
show  that  from  the  very  first  the  men  who  were  entrusted 
with  the  direction  of  affairs  set  a  high  standard  for  the 
teaching  in  Marietta  College.  As  early  as  1841,  Mr. 
E.  D.  Mansfield,  who  had  been  invited  to  come  to 
Marietta  and  deliver  an  address  before  the  College,  made 
this  report  in  a  Cincinnati  paper,  after  his  return  to  that 
place:  "I  have  already  spoken  of  the  intelligence  and 
fine  tone  of  society  prevalent  in  this  place.  It  was  in 
consequence  of  this  social  state,  probably,  that  the  idea 
of  a  college  was  suggested  to  the  minds  of  the  citizens." 

Those  were  the  days  of  modest  beginnings.  The  Col- 
lege grounds  then  included  only  a  small  part  of  the  present 
campus.  Much  of  what  is  now  the  Fourth  Street  front 
was  then  private  property,  and  the  College  owned  but 
a  narrow  frontage  on  that  street,  about  midway  between 
Putnam  and  Butler.  Until  1850  the  old  dormitory, 
which  nearly  all  of  us  remember  with  affection,  furnished 
the  only  rooms  available  for  chapel,  for  recitation,  for 
literary  society,  for  library,  for  laboratory,  and  for  dor- 
mitory. For  a  part  of  the  time,  the  classes  of  the  Acad- 
emy were  heard  in  the  basement.  Even  this  useful 
building  narrowly  escaped  destruction  by  fire  in  Novem- 
ber, 1840.  The  roof  of  South  Hall  was  destroyed.  It 
is  reported  that  many  of  the  ladies  of  Marietta  helped 
to  save  the  building  by  drawing  water  from  neighboring 
wells,  or  by  helping  to  carry  out  the  books  from  the 
library.  Although  the  cornerstone  of  what  is  now  called 

40 


CAMPUS  OF  1850 


CAMPUS  OF  1880 


Erwin  Hall  was  laid  by  President  Linsley  in  1845  and 
an  address  delivered  by  General  Cass,  the  building  was 
not  ready  until  1850  for  the  literary  societies  to  take 
possession  of  the  third  floor. 

Although  the  equipment  was  meagre  in  those  days, 
that  was  the  period  for  some  very  important  beginnings. 
Some  of  the  customs  and  institutions  which  have  been 
the  pride  of  students,  old  and  young,  were  well  established 
in  those  days  of  humble  beginnings.  In  1839,  prize 
declamations  were  held  one  evening  of  commencement 
week,  and  in  the  report  of  the  same  it  is  suggested 
that,  if  favored  by  the  public,  they  may  "probably  be 
perpetuated."  In  that  same  year  the  two  literary  societies, 
the  Alpha  Kappa  and  the  Psi  Gamma,  sprang  from  the 
fragments  of  an  older  organization.  In  the  catalogue 
for  1840  it  is  reported  that  "two  flourishing  literary  soci- 
eties have  been  incorporated  by  the  state."  For  a  long 
series  of  years  the  contest  of  the  literary  societies  was 
one  of  the  important  events  of  commencement  week. 
To  many  of  the  older  alumni  it  is  a  source  of  regret 
that  the  literary  societies  no  longer  have  the  relative 
importance  which  they  once  held  in  the  minds  of  under- 
graduates. Class  drill  in  writing  and  speaking  English 
is  indispensable  in  any  college,  but  it  can  hardly  take 
the  place  of  a  society  in  which  each  member  has  practice 
in  self-government  as  well  as  in  writing  and  speaking. 
It  was  reported  of  a  society  exhibition  in  1847,  "There 
seemed  to  be  among  the  exhibitors  no  half-trained,  ill- 
regulated  thinkers,  but  all  spoke  like  men  who  felt  that 
they  were  addressing  men."  This  was  somewhat  better 
than  Mr.  Beman  Gates  reported  of  the  speakers  in  1841. 
At  that  time  he  said,  "The  disputants  in  this  case  did 
about  as  well  as  congressmen."  As  he  had  recently 
returned  from  Washington,  he  was  prepared  to  make 
the  comparison. 

41 


Besides  the  society  exhibitions  and  contests,  there 
were  other  meetings  in  which  the  students  were  expected 
to  speak,  and  some  of  these  were  under  the  direction 
of  the  faculty.  The  Junior  exhibition  in  March  demanded 
some  exercise  from  every  member  of  that  class.  There 
was  a  Greek  and  a  Latin  oration,  sometimes  a  Greek  col- 
loquy, and,  of  course,  a  little  English. 

The  Society  of  Inquiry,  a  religious  and  missionary 
organization,  also  held  public  meetings,  of  which  the 
program  for  December,  1854,  is  a  fair  example.  On 
that  occasion,  S.  S.  Garrison  delivered  an  oration  on 
"The  Greek  Church/'  J.  H.  Shedd  read  an  essay  on 
"The  Literary  Worth  of  the  Bible/'  T.  R.  Taylor  and 
H.  B.  Scott  debated  on  "The  Know-Nothing  Society" 
(a  very  live  question  in  those  days),  R.  A.  Garrison 
gave  a  report  on  "The  Mission  to  West  Africa,"  and 
J.  F.  Follett  discussed  "A  Method  of  Increasing  the 
Number  of  Ministers." 

We  may  conclude  from  the  reports  that  in  those  early 
days  the  student  was  called  more  frequently  than  at 
present  to  speak  in  public  under  the  direct  control  of 
the  College.  Perhaps  the  student  of  the  present  day 
has  access  to  a  greater  number  and  variety  of  platforms, 
if  he  wishes  to  air  his  views  or  cultivate  his  talents. 

In  1843,  the  first  notice  of  the  Society  of  the  Alumni 
appears.  Mr.  D.  B.  Linn,  who  afterwards  lived  in 
McConnelsville,  and  later  in  Zanesville,  delivered  an 
address. 

Early  in  1845,  the  "Student's  Oracle"  was  published 
by  B.  T.  Cushing,  J.  S.  McClure,  A.  H.  Washburn,  and 
W.  Warner,  Jr.  Thus  far  I  have  been  unable  to  find 
a  copy  of  this  paper.  I  mention  it  now  in  the  hope  that 
some  alumnus  may  resurrect  a  copy  from  among  his  old 
papers,  and  thus  enrich  the  College  Library  with  a  sample 
of  our  first  college  paper. 

42 


In  the  catalogue  for  1847  it  is  announced  that  "in- 
struction in  German,  French,  Spanish,  and  Italian  lan- 
guages is  given  to  those  who  desire  it  on  reasonable 
terms." 

In  1845,  Alpha  Kappa  celebrated  the  Fourth  of  July 
with  a  public  meeting,  and  in  1852,  the  whole  body  of 
students  held  an  impromptu  celebration  about  the  high 
steps  of  the  old  dormitory.  If  any  student  showed  a 
disposition  to  sneak  away  without  contributing  his  share 
of  patriotic  eloquence,  a  dozen  fleet  runners  were  on  his 
track,  he  was  brought  back  in  triumph,  stationed  upon 
the  topmost  step  and  there  held  prisoner  until  his  speech 
for  freedom  had  been  delivered. 

Not  all  the  enterprises  of  those  formative  years  have 
come  down  to  us.  In  1845,  it  was  announced  that  "an 
eligible  plat  of  ground  has  been  set  apart  by  the  Trustees 
as  an  ornamental  garden,  and  a  horticultural  association, 
formed  by  the  students,  has  entered  upon  the  cultivation 
of  it  with  great  taste  and  spirit."  What  became  of  that 
horticultural  association  I  have  never  heard.  Perhaps 
the  members  afterward  donned  sweaters  and  marked 
a  diamond  across  the  ornamental  garden.  Some  of  the 
older  boys  report  that  there  were  not  many  amusements 
in  those  days,  although  there  were  some  good  runners 
and  jumpers. 

The  good  ladies  of  Marietta  have  always  been  the 
true  frends  of  the  College,  and  some  of  them  were  among 
the  early  contributors  to  its  funds.  On  the  7th  of  April, 
1842,  they  held  a  fair,  which  netted  $160.00,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  College,  and  two  years  later  they  provided 
a  public  dinner  at  the  College  chapel,  on  commencement 
day,  for  the  same  purpose.  The  price  of  tickets  is  not 
stated  in  the  notice  that  was  published,  but  it  was  not 
a  free  lunch. 

43 


Concerning  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  young  insti- 
tution, this  notice  is  repeated  in  many  of  the  early 
catalogues :  "The  faculty  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  under- 
stood that  they  regard  the  benefits  of  the  institution  as 
the  special  property  of  the  studious,  the  gentlemanly, 
and  the  virtuous;  they  must  not,  therefore,  be  expected 
to  waste  its  privileges  on  the  indolent,  the  dissipated,  or 
the  vicious,  and  it  is  hoped  that  none  such  will  seek  admis- 
sion into  it." 

To  carry  out  this  worthy  purpose,  the  daily  program 
was  wisely  devised.  Very  early  in  the  morning — indeed, 
before  daylight  for  a  part  of  the  year — every  student  was 
expected  at  chapel  exercises  and  then  to  the  morning 
recitation.  Another  recitation  for  every  class  came  at 
eleven,  and  a  third  at  three  or  four  in  the  afternoon. 
This  course  was  varied  by  a  rhetorical  exercise,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  faculty,  on  Wednesday  afternoon, 
and  by  the  exercise  of  the  literary  societies,  which  took 
all  of  Saturday  forenoon  after  the  morning  recitation. 
As  this  was  long  before  the  day  of  electives,  every  student 
in  the  College  classes  was  expected  to  recite  three  times 
a  day  and  at  the  fixed  hours.  A  tradition  comes  down 
to  us  of  a  shrewd  professor  who  used  this  arrangement 
as  a  means  of  detecting  two  culprits  who  had  committed 
some  vandalism  in  a  hall  of  the  old  dormitory.  He  knew 
the  offense  had  been  committed  in  the  forenoon,  between 
eleven  and  twelve  o'clock.  He  knew  well  that  no 
Freshman  had  had  a  hand  in  the  mischief,  for  every 
member  of  that  class  had  been  in  his  room  at  recitation. 
From  his  colleagues  he  learned  that  all  the  Seniors  and 
Juniors  were  present  or  accounted  for  in  the  same  way. 
Further  investigation  revealed  the  significant  fact  that, 
at  the  same  hour,  two  unfortunate  Sophomores  were 
absent  from  duty  and  unaccounted  for  on  any  legitimate 
business. 

44 


And  now  a  few  words  about  the  product  of  those 
faithful,  watchful  years.  What  can  we  say  of  the  178 
men  who  were  graduated  in  the  first  two  decades  of  Mari- 
etta College  history?  First,  we  are  surprised  at  the 
relatively  large  number  of  clergymen — 73  in  all,  or  more 
than  forty  per  cent  of  the  whole  number.  In  those  early 
days,  it  was  recognized  by  nearly  all  Christians  that  the 
clergyman  should  have  a  classical  education  before  he 
took  up  his  distinctively  professional  studies.  Such  prep- 
aration was  not  then  considered  necessary  for  the  young 
man  who  wished  to  become  a  lawyer,  a  physician,  or  a 
teacher.  Yet  there  were  31  of  the  graduates  of  that 
period  who  were  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  among  them 
have  been  representatives  in  both  houses  of  Congress, 
in  state  legislatures,  and  in  important  judicial  positions. 
Among  the  15  physicians  may  be  remembered  Dr.  J.  D. 
Cotton  and  others,  who  rendered  efficient  service  to  the 
country  by  caring  for  the  sick  and  wounded  in  the  time 
of  the  Civil  War. 

Among  the  teachers  may  be  named  many  of  those 
who  were  ministers  of  the  gospel,  but  of  those  whose 
special  calling  seemed  to  be  that  of  teacher  may  be  men- 
tioned Erastus  Adkins,  Joseph  Tuttle,  George  Rossiter, 
T.  S.  Case,  G.  H.  Howison,  J.  S.  Campbell,  J.  D.  Phillips, 
and  many  others.  Among  the  editors,  R.  M.  Stimson, 
whom  we  rejoice  to  see  with  us  today,  and  D.  B.  Linn 
set  an  ethical  and  literary  standard  for  a  local  newspaper 
that  was  far  in  advance  of  the  times. 

Among  artists,  E.  F.  Andrews  has  won  renown,  and 
Major  A.  T.  Goshorn,  as  director  of  the  Philadelphia 
Exposition,  won  honor  for  the  whole  country  as  well  as 
for  himself. 

But  in  the  Civil  War  there  came  the  rare,  the  supreme 
test  of  what  Marietta  had  been  doing  for  her  sons  in 
her  early  days.  When  that  war  began,  it  looked  for  a. 

45 


while  as  if  the  recitation  halls  would  be  entirely  deserted 
for  the  camp  and  the  field.  Among  the  older  alumni 
there  were  also  many  to  respond  to  the  call.  It  is  not 
my  place  to  describe  any  of  the  achievements  of  that 
war.  That  patriotic  duty  will  be  performed  by  one  who 
himself  filled  an  honorable  place  in  the  scenes  he  describes. 
My  province  is  merely  to  show  by  figures  what  the 
officials  in  responsible  positions  thought  of  the  fitness 
of  Marietta  College  graduates  in  the  days  when  the 
greatest  need  of  the  country  was  brave  and  energetic 
men.  Among  those  who  had  attended  Marietta  College 
within  the  first  twenty  years,  73  entered  the  Union  serv- 
ice. Of  this  number,  43  attained  a  commissioned  office. 
Among  these  officers,  every  rank  was  represented  from 
second  lieutenant  to  brevet  major  general. 

As  a  goodly  number  of  the  students  of  those  early 
days  came  from  the  South,  we  might  expect  to  hear  of 
representatives  of  Marietta  in  the  Confederate  Army, 
and  we  have  the  record  of  two  colonels,  two  majors, 
three  captains,  one  lieutenant,  and  one  special  commis- 
sioner of  the  Confederacy.  Evidently,  the  people  of  both 
North  and  South,  when  looking  for  active  and  energetic 
men,  in  that  time  of  severe  trial,  did  not  lose  sight  of 
the  students  of  Marietta  College. 

There  were  other  heroes  in  those  days.  Of  the  heroic 
missionaries  who  went  out  to  Asia,  to  Africa,  to  the 
Indians  of  the  West,  and  to  the  islands  of  the  Pacific, 
when  the  world  was  ten  times  as  large  as  it  is  today, 
another  speaker  will  give  us  an  account. 

Among  adventurers  we  must  mention  Prescott  Hil- 
dreth  Devol,  a  student,  but  not  a  graduate  in  the  early 
thirties.  After  wandering  over  many  seas,  he  finally 
became  pirate-exterminator  to  the  King  of  Siam,  and  it 
appears  that  he  fulfilled  the  arduous  and  perilous  duties 
of  his  office  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  his  royal  master. 

46 


We  find  a  hero  in  the  first  graduating  class.  When 
a  tutor  had  been  taken  down  with  smallpox,  Sam  Hall, 
who  had  never  been  vaccinated,  courageously  offered  to 
stay  with  the  sufferer  in  a  lonely  cabin,  and  there  he 
faithfully  nursed  him  until  death  ended  the  homely  trag- 
edy. Sam  was  an  ardent  Abolitionist,  and  he  was  not 
afraid  to  speak  his  mind  freely  when  such  sentiments 
were  very  unpopular.  At  one  time,  when  he  was  making 
an  anti-slavery  speech  in  Harmar,  a  mob  attacked  him, 
and  tradition  says  that  he  was  forced  to  swim  the  Mus- 
kingum  to  escape.  Whether  this  report  be  true  or  not, 
we  know  that  he  escaped,  and  that  he  lived  to  fight 
another  day,  for  President  Tuttle  tells  us  that,  when  a 
committee  of  timid  citizens,  in  the  interest  of  the  mob, 
came  to  put  in  his  hands  a  remonstrance  or  warning, — 
a  petition  for  him  to  desist  from  the  dangerous  practice 
of  denouncing  slavery, — he  seized  an  old-fashioned  tongs 
and,  stretching  his  long  arms  to  their  utmost,  said,  "Put 
it  in  there  and  I  will  convey  it  to  the  fire." 

This  can  be  but  an  imperfect  sketch,  written  as  it  is 
by  one  who  cannot  say,  "Part  of  it  I  saw  and  part  of  it 
I  was,"  yet  even  these  imperfect  pictures,  copied  from  the 
stories  of  others,  may  serve  to  show  that  in  those  days 
of  beginning  Marietta  was  doing  a  great  work  for  the 
state  and  the  Nation.  Had  Marietta  College  been  for- 
ever closed  in  the  time  of  civil  strife,  her  former  services 
would  still  be  remembered.  There  were  giants  among 
her  sons  in  those  days,  and  their  achievements  are  writ- 
ten in  many  a  page  of  our  Nation's  history. 


47 


President  Hays:  To  a  great  many  of  us  who  are 
here  this  afternoon  the  next  address  on  our  program  will 
appeal  with  peculiar  significance,  because  we  were  here 
under  the  administration  of  Dr.  Andrews.  I  don't  know 
of  any  alumnus,  the  introduction  of  whom  to  an  audi- 
ence would  give  me  greater  pleasure  than  the  man  I  now 
present  to  you.  He  happened  to  be  one  of  the  boys  when 
I  was  here.  He  happened  to  be  one  of  the  boys  that 
everybody,  I  think,  in  Marietta  as  well  as  everybody  in 
the  College,  knew,  and  one  of  those  whose  after-career 
has  been  watched  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  by  all  who 
knew  him.  He  was  a  typical  college  student.  He  had 
his  experiences  and  successes  and  all  that  in  college. 
I  think  he  occasionally  caused  the  faculty  the  usual 
amount  of  trouble;  and  I  distinctly  remember  that,  on 
one  occasion,  almost  all  the  female  portion  of  younger 
Marietta  went  into  mourning  because  an  unlucky  base 
ball  had  gone  through  Bill  Jordan's  fingers  and  broken 
his  nose.  We  know  that  he  has  made  good  in  life 
because,  as  I  have  said,  we  have  watched  his  career. 

The  next  period  is  the  presidency  of  Dr.  Andrews, 
1855  to  1885,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  W.  Jordan,  of 
Clinton,  Massachusetts,  class  of  '79. 


48 


PRESIDENT  ANDREWS'  ADMINISTRATION, 
1855-1885. 

By  Rev.  William  W.  Jordan,  D.D.,  79. 


Mr.  President,  Marietta  Alumni,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

I  hardly  know  what  to  say  in  reply  to  the  words  of 
the  President.  The  tenderness  of  my  heart  keeps  me 
from  setting  forth  all  that  I  might  recount  of  his  career  in 
college.  I  will  simply  remind  this  audience,  Mr.  Pres- 
ident, that  for  many  years  you  have  been  known  as  Gov- 
ernor Hays,  and  I  'believe  that  history  records  that 
Governor  Hays  became  President  Hays.  Whether  you 
cherish  those  ambitions  or  not  I  cannot  tell,  but  if  you 
speak  as  kindly  of  all  men  as  you  have  of  me,  I  am  sure 
you  will  get  elected  to  that  office. 

The  middle-aged  graduate  returns  to  the  scenes  of  his 
college  days  with  mingled  emotions.  Memory  is  unsealed, 
and  across  the  gulf  of.  thirty  or  more  years  a  vision  rises 
upon  him  out  of  the  past.  A  vision  of  once  familiar 
localities;  the  quiet  streets  of  an  old  town,  adjacent 
rivers  and  surrounding  hills;  the  shaded  campus  and  its 
group  of  buildings,  the  crowd  of  boyish  faces,  and  the 
graver  faces  of  the  faculty.  Through  the  mists  and 
changes  of  thirty  years  these  scenes  return  to  play  upon 
the  different  chords  of  feeling.  The  hills,  at  least,  re- 
main the  same,  and  the  rivers  run  as  before,  but  the  drops 
of  water  which  were  in  the  current  yonder,  thirty  years 
ago,  are  not  there  today. 

49 


I  have  been  asked  to  speak  of  President  Andrews' 
administration,  not  in  a  formal  historical  review,  the  data 
for  which  were  not  within  my  reach,  but  rather  of  that 
part  familiar  to  myself,  and,  it  has  been  suggested,  "with 
something  of  the  flavor  of  the  campus."  Thus  commis- 
sioned, Mr.  President,  I  hold  myself  guiltless  for  the 
character  of  any  chance  allusions. 

President  Andrews  was  distinctly  a  product  of  New 
England  life  and  education;  so  absolutely  an  educator 
that  the  mind  cannot  associate  him  with  another  calling; 
a  Puritan  in  the  best  sense  of  the  name,  cherishing  New 
England  ideals  and  traditions,  and  seeking  to  embody 
them  in  this  Western  college.  Distinctively,  Marietta  was 
an  Eastern  college  established  in  the  West.  She  owes 
gratitude  to  the  genius  of  Mark  Hopkins  and  to  Williams 
College  for  the  fine  leadership  of  President  Andrews. 
Coming  to  Marietta  in  1838,  as  tutor,  professor  and 
president,  he  gave  fifty  years  of  distinguished  and  devoted 
service  to  this  college — a  record  so  unusual  that  it  de- 
serves unusual  honor.  His  character,  learning,  and  length 
of  service  made  him  a  familiar  and  honored  figure  in  the 
college  world  of  his  day,  brought  him  invitations  to 
important  offices,  and  enabled  him  to  secure  important 
financial  assistance  for  the  College. 

The  impress  of  his  personality  upon  his  administra- 
tion was  marked;  an  administration  characterized  by 
dignity,  strength,  a  positive  religious  tone,  and  consistent 
adherence  to  the  highest  standards  of  education.  His 
mind  was  distinctly  logical  in  type,  and  remarkable  for 
clear  and  forceful  reasoning;  his  character  was  the  em- 
bodiment of  uprightness;  and  his  spirit  was  modest  and 
reserved  to  the  verge  of  shyness.  How  often  we  saw  him 
cover  his  face  with  his  hands,  as  the  flush  spread  over  it. 
But  his  thought  was  clear  and  incisive,  and  woe  to  the 
luckless  student  who  made  a  pretense  in  his  classes. 

60 


Genuineness  and  fidelity  were  the  watchwords  of  his  life, 
and  as  was  said  after  his  death,  "  his  soul  abhorred 
shams."  An  unprepared  classmate  was  one  day  attempt- 
ing to  conceal  the  fact.  Questioned,  he  answered,  "Well, 
in  one  sense,  Dr.  Andrews,  you  might  say  the  answer 
would  be  so  and  so."  "And  what  would  it  be  in  the 
other  sense,  Mr.  D.  ?"  was  the  swift  reply  with  which  the 
President  floored  the  pretender. 

Associated  with  President  Andrews  were  a  group  of 
professors  of  such  ability  and  character  as  are  seldom 
found  in  the  faculty  of  a  small  college.  Some  of  them 
afterwards  filled  larger  positions,  and  of  those  who  re- 
mained in  their  devotion  to  Marietta,  several  were  fitted 
for  far  wider  spheres  of  influence.  Professor  Rosseter, 
a  prince  among  instructors,  illuminating  mathematics  and 
all  other  subjects  with  his  unquestioned  genius  and  win- 
ning all  by  his  noble  personality.  Professor  Beach, 
master  of  purest  English,  pellucid  in  thought  and  diction ; 
gentle  but  strong  in  character,  his  saintly  spirit  impress- 
ing all  who  knew  him.  Professor  Mills,  incisive,  prac- 
tical, forceful,  always  interesting  his  classes  by  his 
directness  and  humor.  Professor  Biscoe,  with  scholarly 
precision  revealing  easy  mastery  of  his  subjects,  and  with 
a  genuineness  of  character  honored  by  all.  Professor 
Orris,  classic  in  countenance,  in  spirit,  and  in  perfect 
knowledge  of  Greek.  Professor  Manatt,  steeped  in  Ger- 
man lore,  redolent  of  German  university  life,  a  master  of 
modern  languages.  Professor  Gear,  forceful,  faithful, 
successful  in  varied  branches  of  teaching,  with  his 
untamed  tribesmen  of  the  Academy.  (Somewhere  we 
ought  to  mention  Billy,  "Professor  Robinson,"  as  he  was 
otherwise  called,  whose  honest,  sable  countenance,  and 
little  cart  were  familiar  objects,  and  filled  an  important 
place  in  the  dormitory  life.) 

51 


It  is  no  glamour  of  distance,  but  a  true  perspective, 
which  compels  us  to  recognize  them,  with  hardly  an 
exception,  as  instructors  of  unusual  ability.  And  they 
were  men  of  character,  whose  example  became  to  us  in 
the  years  that  followed,  a  potent  influence  for  upright- 
ness, devotion,  self-sacrifice,  and  the  highest  qualities  of 
manhood,  annually  sacrificing  in  part  their  already  meager 
salaries,  that  the  College  might  continue  its  valuable  work. 
Let  Marietta  and  her  students  of  every  period,  honor 
their  memory.  In  the  sunshine  of  success,  men  too  often 
forget  the  sacrifice  upon  which  that  success  is  builded. 
Before  the  bridge  spans  the  flood  as  a  highway  for 
humanity,  foundation  stones  are  buried  beneath  the  earth. 
Doubtless  those  men  of  the  faculty  did  not  realize  that 
a  most  valuable  part  of  the  education  given  us  was  the 
influence  of  their  own  personalities.  They  builded  better 
than  they  knew.  But  it  is  always  so.  The  personality 
of  the  educator  exerts  a  stronger  influence  than  that  of 
the  leader  in  other  callings.  There  is  an  inevitable, 
psychologic  transference  of  his  image  to  the  sensitive 
films  of  the  scholar's  mind  and  soul,  reproducing  itself 
in  future  years.  And  the  smaller  college  gives  closer  con- 
tact with  professors  than  does  the  larger  one. 

Memory  recalls  those  recitation  rooms  in  hours  when 
Professor  Rosseter  was  clothing  abstract  mathematics 
with  forms  that  lived  and  breathed  before  our  kindling 
minds;  when  the  perfect  expression  and  limpid  English 
of  Professor  Beach  were  as  music  to  our  ears;  when  we 
watched  with  bated  breath  for  explosions  in  Professor 
Biscoe's  experiments ;  gave  free  translations  of  Horace  to 
Professor  Mills;  struggled  with  the  significant  aorist 
under  Professor  Orris;  groped  for  pronunciation  of 
umlauted  vowels  under  Professor  Manatt.  All  comes 
back  to  us  with  the  local  setting.  Would  there  were  time 
to  dwell  with  greater  length  upon  the  professors.  Per- 

52 


sonally,  I  feel  indebted  to  them  all ;  deeply  so  to  one  with 
whom  I  came  in  closer  contact.  Professor  Rosseter's 
house  was  my  home,  and  though  related  by  kinship,  it 
rnay  be  permitted  me  to  say  that  the  example  of  his 
splendid  manhood,  his  rare  and  noble  spirit,  have  been  to 
me  a  never-failing  inspiration  in  all  the  succeeding  years 
of  life  and  service.  As  I  think  of  his  knightly  spirit  and 
the  devotion  with  which  he  gave  himself  to  this  college 
and  to  the  battle  of  life,  there  come  to  me  words  written 
of  Col.  Robert  Shaw : 

"Right  in  the  van,  on  the  red  rampart's  slippery  swell, 
With  face  toward  the  foe  he  fell, 
Forward  as  fits  a  man. 

But  the  high  heart  beats  on  to  light  men's  feet, 
In  paths  where  death  for  duty's  ends 
Makes  dying  sweet." 

Those  were  Spartan  days  of  struggle  and  self-denials, 
for  the  professors,  for  the  college  itself,  and  for  many 
students  attempting  with  small  means  to  secure  education. 
For  many,  it  was  an  experience  of  plain  living  and  high 
thinking.  But  while  Marietta  could  afford  to  be  poor, 
she  could  not  be  dishonest.  Her  standard  was  never 
lowered  to  attract  a  larger  constituency.  The  ideals 
before  her  President  and  professors  were  nailed  to  the 
masthead,  and  through  all  the  years  of  struggle  that 
flag  was  never  struck.  There  was  a  high  standard  in 
the  curriculum,  and  a  high  level  of  life  and  character 
held  before  us.  It  was  a  period  of  idealism.  If  it  did 
not  bear  fruit  in  all  of  us  at  the  time,  it  was  none  the 
less  true  of  our  instructors  and  the  institution.  At  the 
time,  there  were,  I  believe,  thirty-five  colleges  in  reality, 
or  in  name,  in  Ohio.  Of  these,  but  three  maintained 
requirements  equal  to  those  of  Marietta,  though  a  num- 
ber catalogued  far  larger  attendance. 

53 


The  sports  and  pleasures  which  make  the  lighter  side 
of  college  life  were  not,  however,  excluded.  Boating, 
base  ball,  foot  ball  had  their  place.  To  the  glorious  class 
of  '79  and  to  one  of  its  most  enterprising  spirits,  William 
J.  Follett,  now  of  Boston,  belong,  we  think,  the  credit 
for  the  revival  or  development  of  sports,  which  have 
apparently  flourished  ever  since — a  renaissance  of  learn^ 
ing  which  ever  appeals  to  our  educated  youth.  Fateful 
struggles  on  that  well-named  field  of  war,  the  campus 
martins,,  and  on  the  placid  waters  of  the  Muskingum,  are 
memories  with  some  of  us  who  would  hesitate  to  enter 
them  now.  But  they  served  to  develop  mental  and 
physical  fiber. 

There  were  the  customary  humors  of  college  life, 
also.  I  recall  one  in  the  experience  of  our  beloved  and 
dignified  President.  Cremation  was  beginning  to  be 
practiced,  and  some  student  ridiculed  it  in  a  speech  at 
rhetoricals,  provoking  laughter  among  the  other  stu- 
dents. The  President's  sense  of  propriety  was  justly 
offended,  but  as  he  rose  to  rebuke  the  levity,  he  said, 
"Gentlemen,  the  disposal  of  the  dead  is  not  a  subject 
for  laughter.  It  is  a  grave  subject."  The  smile  which 
inevitably  followed  this  unintentional  begging  of  the  ques- 
tion spread  almost  to  the  faces  of  the  faculty. 

There  were  also  those  mysterious  incidents  which 
often  happen  without  sufficient  explanation  in  college  life. 
The  college  bell  occasionally  rang  at  midnight,  the  chapel 
pulpit  unaccountably  disappeared,  flaming  posters  blos- 
somed over  night  on  college  walls,  and  other  things 
happened  which  indicated  the  presence  of  mysterious  and 
malign  spirits — some  powers  of  darkness.  A  strange 
thing  happened  at  this  time  in  the  Academy.  The  stove- 
pipe removed  itself  during  the  night.  The  fair  inference 
was  that  there  would  be  no  morning  session,  but  it  was 
held,  in  an  atmostphere  in  which  chill  and  smoke  and 

54 


coal  gas  struggled  together  for  mastery ;  and  the  morning 
Scripture  lesson,  read  with  a  grim  gleam  in  the  eye  of 
Professor  Gear,  included  the  words:  "It  is  sport  to  a 
fool  to  do  mischief.  As  vinegar  to  the  teeth,  and  as 
smoke  to  the  eyes,  so  is  the  sluggard  to  them  that  send 
him."  Emphasis  was  laid  on  particular  words.  Since 
the  student  body  has  taken  unto  itself  a  wife  and  presum- 
ably gentler  manners,  such  events  probably  do  not  happen. 

There  was  keen  and  wholesome  rivalry  between  the 
literary  societies,  Alpha  Kap,  and  Psi  Gam,  as  they  were 
called  for  short;  and  weightiest  affairs  of  state  were 
there  definitely  settled  by  the  eloquence  of  budding  ora- 
tors. In  reality  this  was  a  valuable  training,  which  de- 
serves a  large  place  in  student  life,  as  it  has,  for  instance, 
in  English  universities. 

The  relations  of  the  College  and  community  were 
especially  cordial.  The  town  manifested  proprietary 
pride  in  the  College,  many  students  were  housed  in  her 
homes,  and  welcomed  into  her  social  life, — possibly  too 
frequently  for  best  ranks  in  scholarship.  The  old  historic 
town  with  its  quiet  dignity  of  age,  furnished  an  ideal 
environment  for  a  college.  The  influence  of  its  founders, 
the  pioneers  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  remained  in  its 
life,  and  their  descendants  were  still  resident.  It  was  a 
privilege  for  the  students  of  our  day  to  know  such  vener- 
able men  as  Col.  John  Mills,  Douglas  Putnam,  Anselm 
Tupper  Nye,  and  others  prominent  in  this  community. 
Two  honored  sons  of  the  first  two  named  are,  today, 
prominent  in  the  life  of  this  college,  and,  Mr.  President, 
this  notable  anniversary  would  certainly  be  incomplete 
if  it  failed  to  recognize  the  unmeasured  and  remarkable 
generosity,  sacrifice  and  devotion  with  which  one  of  them 
has  stood  beneath  (no  other  words  express  it)  the  life 
of  this  College  for  many  years,  as  the  very  pillar  of  its 

55 


support.  Let  every  alumnus  and  student  of  Marietta, 
and  every  one  to  follow,  take  off  his  hat  with  gratitude 
and  honor  to  William  W.  Mills. 

The  historic  importance  of  Marietta  brought  to  it 
then,  as  now,  many  eminent  visitors.  The  students  of 
our  day  listened  to  President  Hayes,  and  members  of  his 
cabinet.  We  heard  the  distinguished  father  of  the  most 
distinguished  guest  of  this  anniversary,  the  President  of 
the  United  States.  So  history  repeats  itself,  and  in  the 
lineage  of  the  many  honored  names  which  Ohio  has  given 
to  the  Union.  Let  us  assure  President  Taft  that  on  Ohio 
soil  we  are  not  insurgents  but  regulars. 

The  life  of  Marietta  College  during  President  An- 
drews' administration  was  distinctly  religious  in  tone. 
Church  and  chapel  attendance  were  compulsory,  the  Bible 
a  text  book,  and  a  considerable  number  of  every  class 
were  preparing  for  the  ministry.  The  Day  of  Prayer 
for  Colleges  was  impressively  observed.  Students  could 
not  fail  to  recognize  it  as  a  Christian  college,  where,  with- 
out a  narrow  discipline,  they  were  constantly  in  a  religious 
atmosphere.  There  was  no  paternalism,  the  idea  rather 
was  free  self -development,  but  every  student  felt  that 
his  moral  and  spiritual,  as  well  as  his  intellectual,  welfare 
was  regarded.  We  are  glad  to  find  it  equally  true  today. 
In  the  winter  of  1877-78,  the  College  was  deeply  moved 
by  a  religious  interest  which  brought  a  large  number 
of  students  into  the  Christian  life.  Its  influence  was  not 
enduring  with  all;  but  wrought  lasting  effect  on  many 
lives,  and  permeated  the  entire  church  life  of  the  town. 
Some  of  us  will  never  forget  the  College  and  class  prayer- 
meetings  of  those  days,  and  the  efforts  of  classmates  in 
behalf  of  one  another.  Faculty  and  students  were 
brought  into  a  very  close  relationship  at  that  time. 

Let  me  pay  tribute  to  the  memory  of  my  classmate 
and  chum,  Harold  B.  Nye,  whose  influence  had  much  to 

56 


do  with  my  own  religious  decision.  His  true  and  upright 
life  was  an  example  to  his  class  and  to  his  fellowmen 
as  long  as  he  lived.  Long  after  the  shadows  have  dark- 
ened the  base  of  the  Alps,  the  sunset  flush  lingers  on 
their  snowy  summits,  and  after  all  that  is  poorest  in 
human  lives  is  forgotten,  the  love  and  nobility  they  con- 
tained will  linger  in  memory  like  the  afterglow  on  the 
Alpine  mountain  peaks.  . 

One  of  the  supreme  religious  moments  during  our 
college  life  occurred  when  the  sudden,  terrible  news  came 
of  the  drowning  of  the  President's  son,  a  talented  young 
surgeon.  Several  mornings  later,  President  Andrews 
appeared  to  conduct  chapel  services;  but  in  the  Scripture 
lesson  his  voice  faltered,  and  he  sat  down,  covering  his 
face  with  his  hands.  Instantly  Professor  Beach  arose 
and  offered  a  prayer  so  marvelous  in  its  faith  and  tender- 
ness, that  every  eye  was  wet  and  every  heart  throbbed 
for  the  President. 

We  hear  much  of  that  intangible,  indefinable  some- 
thing known  as  college  spirit.  Some  one  has  called  it, 
"The  product  of  corporate  consciousness."  There  is  the 
Yale  spirit,  and  the  Princeton  spirit,  and  the  Harvard 
spirit.  It  has  been  said,  "You  can  tell  a  Harvard  man 
wherever  you  see  him,  but  you  cannot  tell  him  much." 
In  our  day  at  least,  small  as  our  College  was,  there  was 
a  well-defined  Marietta  spirit,  in  which  love  and  pride 
and  loyalty  commingled. 

Marietta  may  fairly  claim  to  have  had  a  distinctive 
type  of  student  character  at  that  time,  bred  in  part  by  the 
tone  of  the  College  and  in  part  by  the  circumstances  of 
many  students.  It  was  rather  the  rugged,  manly  type. 
There  were  not  many  lily-fingered,  luxurious  examples. 
The  majority  were  working  their  way  through  college, 
and  had  earned  their  way  before  entering.  Some  taught 
school  during  part  of  every  year.  The  average  age  at 

57 


entrance  with  us  was  higher  than  in  Eastern  colleges. 
Almost  every  class  contained  mature  men  making  a  late 
effort  in  life  for  higher  education. 

In  the  period  we  are  considering,  Marietta  was  limited 
in  size,  financial  resources,  and  equipment.  The  growth 
of  a  college  usually  is  an  evolution.  It  implies  its  day  of 
small  things:  a  never  ending  process  of  toil,  sacrifice, 
construction  towards  larger  life  and  higher  levels,  like 
the  measureless  record  of  struggle  in  the  history  of  men. 
The  work  of  our  College  at  that  time  was  undoubtedly 
substantial  and  constructive.  Her  service,  in  a  sense,  was 
pioneer  service  on  the  Western  frontier  of  education, 
especially  in  the  large  area  comprising  western  Pennsyl- 
vania, southern  Ohio,  and  West  Virginia.  From  these 
sections  have  come  many  who  would  never  have  had 
higher  education  but  for  Marietta  College.  She  has 
equipped  for  influential  service  a  large  number  of  these 
young  men,  and  lifted  the  level  of  intelligence  over  a 
wide  area.  To  review  her  work  is  to  realize  anew  the 
tremendous  force  in  education,  to  recognize  that  ideas, 
not  armies,  rule  the  world,  and  that  leadership  in  life 
belongs  to  men  of  trained  and  informed  minds. 

How  marvelously  this  is  demonstrated  in  the  scientific 
achievements  of  our  day!  In  a  few  brief  years,  man 
has  passed  from  dominion  over  land  and  sea  to  dominion 
over  the  air.  He  girdles  the  globe  with  electric  wires, 
he  whispers  messages  across  the  seas  on  waves  of  ether, 
he  traverses  the  depths  of  the  ocean,  he  navigates  the 
dizzy  heights  of  air.  Man!  Himself  but  an  atom  in 
the  limitless  universe — a  speck,  sailing  on  his  little  life 
boat  of  an  earth  through  the  shoreless  ocean  of  space; 
recently  visited  by  another  celestial  traveler,  a  wander- 
ing Jew  of  the  heavens,  rushing  along  its  vast  orbit  at 
a  speed  of  99,480  miles  an  hour.  It  has  opened  anew 

58 


to  the  world  the  magnitude  of  the  universe  and  the  little- 
ness of  man.  And  yet  we  say,  man,  how  infinitesimal, 
but  how  potential! 

From  the  present  viewpoint,  ours  was  education  upon 
the  older  lines,  consisting  largely  of  straightforward 
courses  in  fundamentals,  and  with  strongest  emphasis 
upon  the  classics  and  mathematics.  We  had  not  learned 
that  it  was  time  to  bury  the  dead  languages,  and  we 
knew  little  of  electives.  It  was  essentially  the  dawn  of 
modern  knowledge.  There  was  no  general  acceptance 
then  of  the  scientific  truth  which  has  recast  the  intel- 
lectual life  of  the  world  and  broadened  the  educational 
ideal.  The  great  development  of  psychology  has  taken 
place  since  our  day.  In  the  light  of  modern  education, 
the  curriculum  of  that  day  may  seem  rigid  and  narrow, 
yet  we  have  hardihood  to  believe  that  it  possessed  some 
merits  lacking  in  the  present  system.  We  rejoice  in  the 
new  learning,  in  the  broader  horizons  of  knowledge. 
It  is  an  inspiration  to  return  and  find  a  new  Marietta, 
with  a  larger  equipment  and  an  able  faculty,  under  the 
fine  constructive  leadership  of  President  Perry,  doing  a 
splendid,  progressive  work.  But  it  would  be  disloyal 
not  to  affirm  that  thorough  and  valuable  education  was 
given  by  the  courses  and  instructors  of  our  day. 

The  aim  of  the  President  and  his  associates  was  the 
training  of  men,  both  in  mind  and  character.  The  voca- 
tion of  the  College  to  them  was  more  than  mental 
training — it  was  the  making  of  men.  The  method  of 
the  greatest  molder  of  men  whom  the  world  has  known, 
was  that  of  training  individuals.  So  far  as  was  possible, 
they  followed  that  method.  They  desired  to  send  out 
from  Marietta  those  who  should  manfully,  honorably, 
intelligently  discharge  their  part  in  the  world's  work; 
and  it  may  fairly  be  claimed  that  Marietta  graduates, 
whether  they  have  or  not  possessed)  unusual  ability, 

59 


wealth,  or  influence  have,  as  a  body,  been  substantial 
men,  faithful  in  life's  relations,  influential  in  bettering 
the  environment  in  which  they  have  been  placed. 

In  addition  to  these,  Marietta  has  had  many  grad- 
uates who  have  rendered  distinguished  service;  men  who 
have  risen  to  the  first  rank  in  commercial,  political,  edu- 
cational, and  religious  life.  The  contribution  of  this 
College  to  the  world  of  letters  and  education,  of  the 
ministry  and  missions,  and  all  professional  life,  has 
been  notable.  Among  her  sons  she  numbers  college  pres- 
idents and  professors  and  a  host  of  other  teachers,  gov- 
ernors, United  States  senators  and  representatives, 
eminent  lawyers  and  jurists,  able  physicians  and  sur- 
geons, commercial  and  industrial  leaders,  a  multitude  of 
clergymen  and  missionaries  in  this  and  other  lands; 
alas,  not  many  wealthy  alumni.  When  we  add  to  these 
the  larger  body  of  those  who,  in  less  conspicuous  posi- 
tions, have  none  the  less  filled  an  important  place  in  the 
world's  work,  we  must  recognize  that  Marietta  has  not 
lived  in  vain.  Her  light  is  shining  today  in  many  parts 
of  the  world.  The  torches  kindled  at  her  flame  are 
burning  far  and  wide. 

We  are  proud  of  this  College,  of  her  record,  of  her 
long  struggle  against  adverse  circumstances  to  render 
this  important  service  to  mankind;  proud  of  her  faith, 
and  courage,  and  achievement,  of  her  ideals  and  aims; 
proud  of  the  memory  of  those  who  sacrificed  themselves 
to  make  this  possible;  and  our  earnest  hope  is  that  she 
may  augment  in  size  and  influence  through  all  the  years 
of  the  future.  In  the  closing  words  of  President  An- 
drews' baccalaureate  to  our  class,  "May  her  path  be 
as  the  shining  light,  which  shineth  more  and  more  to 
the  perfect  day!" 

New  Marietta,  faculty  and  students,  we  of  the  former 
day  salute  you!  We  rejoice  in  your  larger  outlook  for 

60 


prosperity  and  service;  and  as  your  face  turns  to  the 
broadening  path  of  the  future,  we  most  earnestly  bid  you 
Godspeed ! 

From  their  different  posts  of  duty,  scattered  about 
the  world,  I  seem  to  see  your  graduates,  in  reminiscent 
hours,  look  back  to  those  scenes  of  their  early  hopes, 
purposes,  and  education;  to  the  old  town  and  its  quiet 
streets,  to  the  ever  flowing  rivers  and  surrounding  hills, 
to  the  shaded  campus  and  its  group  of  buildings,  to  the 
crowd  of  boyish  faces  now  furrowed  by  time,  to  the 
forms  and  faces  of  their  professors,  some  of  them  now  in 
the  life  beyond;  and  as  memories  crowd  thick  and  fast 
upon  them,  with  a  pang  for  the  flight  of  time  and  its 
changes,  they  send  thoughts  of  grateful  love  to  their 
alma  mater  and  a  prayer  to  Him  who  guideth  the  stars 
in  their  courses,  that  the  guidance  and  blessing  of  the  past 
years  may  'be  continued  in  all  the  years  to  come. 

President  Hays :  With  the  passing  of  those  glorious 
days  of  old  Marietta  the  work  of  the  College  did  not 
stop.  It  has  gone  on  and  on.  The  opportunities  of  each 
year  have  been  taken  advantage  of,  and  we  know  today 
that  the  College  has  had  just  as  admirable  a  history  in 
the  later  years  as  in  the  earlier.  The  next  address  is 
on  "The  Later  Years,  1885  to  1910."  Mr.  Laurence  N. 
Dana,  of  the  class  of  1895. 


61 


THE  LATER  YEARS— 1885-1910. 
By  Laurence  N.  Dana,  '95. 


Mr.  President,  Fellow  Alumni,  and  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men: 

Probably  it  is  impossible  for  any  of  us  to  revisit  the 
scenes  of  former  periods  of  our  lives  with  impressions 
entirely  undisturbed.  It  seems  inevitable  that  there 
should  be  at  least  some  degree  of  pain  and  regret  for 
associations  and  events  that  are  gone  forever.  But  from 
the  feelings  I  have  experienced  during  this  reunion  of 
the  alumni  and  friends  of  Marietta  College,  I  am  per- 
suaded fully  that  there  is  less  to  sadden  and  more  to 
please  in  revisiting  college  scenes  and  in  recalling  college 
days  than  those  of  almost  any  other  youthful  environ- 
ment and  association. 

William  Allen  White,  the  well-known  Western  writer, 
tells  a  story  of  the  return  of  a  Kansas  farmer  and  his 
wife,  after  thirty  years  of  absence,  to  the  familiar  scenes 
of  their  youth  in  Ohio.  He  pictures  their  feelings  at  the 
old  home  and  farm  as  those  of  disappointment  and  sad- 
ness. Everything  seemed  to  have  grown  small.  The 
house  was  dwarfed  and  cramped;  the  stream  had  dwin- 
dled into  the  mere  suggestion  of  the  one  in  which,  as 
a  boy,  he  had  fished  and  bathed;  the  mill  was  strangely 
diminutive;  the  roads  narrow  and  crooked,  and  even  the 
everlasting  hills  seemed  to  be  shrunken  into  pitiful 
mounds. 

62 


The  idea  the  author  wishes  us  to  gain,  no  doubt, 
is  that  our  later  homes  and  associations  absorb  our  inter- 
est and  affections  and  our  viewpoint  undergoes  an  uncon- 
scious change,  little  realized  until  the  test  comes. 

But  I  think  that  if  the  talented  Mr.  White  were  to 
write  a  story  of  the  return  of  some  alumnus  to  college 
scenes,  after  the  lapse  of  years,  and  especially  to  those 
of  Marietta  College,  it  would  not  be  written  in  terms 
of  sadness  and  disappointment,  but  rather  in  those  of 
pride  and  happiness.  For,  while  almost  all  of  us  have 
sought  new  scenes,  formed  new  ties,  and  built  for  our- 
selves new  homes,  which  now  occupy  first  place  in  our 
hearts,  we  have  ever  had  but  one  college  home,  but  one 
alma  mater,  into  the  realm  of  whose  affections  there  has 
been  no  intrusion,  and  we  return  to  the  old  College  on 
occasions  such  as  this  delighted  to  find  that  our  love 
and  our  interest  are  unchanged.  To  us  nothing  has 
become  disappointingly  different.  Where  change  has 
come  and  the  old  has  given  way  for  the  new,  we  fed 
an  added  interest  and  a  greater  pride  at  progress  made. 

The  hand  of  nature  and  the  hand  of  man  have  indeed 
worked  in  harmony  in  beautifying  the  campus.  New  and 
handsome  buildings  have  been  added  to  the  setting,  and 
we  note  the  growth  of  familiar  trees  and  view  the  well- 
kept  green  with  feelings  of  unmixed  pleasure.  And  as  the 
student  of  former  years  catches  sight  of  the  feminine 
grace  and  loveliness  now  added  to  the  groups  upon  the 
campus,  his  gallant  heart  beats  quicker  and  his  enthu- 
siasm grows.  As  individuals,  all  of  us,  no  doubt,  would 
hail  with  delight  our  more  youthful  days,  but  for  the 
College  we  would  have  no  backward  turn  of  time.  We 
want  it  to  hold  fast  to  the  progress  already  made,  and 
the  boys  of  the  early  years,  the  middle  years,  and  the 
later  years  to  pull  all  together  for  greater  and  better 
changes  for  the  future. 

63 


The  quarter  of  a  century  period  the  College  completes 
this  year  has,  next  to  that  of  the  organization  of  the  insti- 
tution itself,  probably  been  the  most  important  and  event- 
ful in  its  history.  It  includes  the  administrations  of  Dr. 
Eaton,  Dr.  Simpson,  and  Dr.  Perry,  and  the  four  years 
of  interregnum,  under  Dean  Chamberlin.  It  has  been  no 
easy  task  to  be  the  executive  of  Marietta  College.  There 
have  always  been  problems  that  have  required  clear 
thought  and  and  untiring  and  intelligent  effort.  Those 
of  us  who  have  followed  the  work  done  by  these  noble 
men  are  agreed  that  Marietta  is  to  be  congratulated 
upon  her  helmsmen. 

Dr.  Eaton  came  to  the  presidency  in  1885,  at  the  close 
of  his  long  administration  as  United  States  Commissioner 
of  Education.  He  had  practically  created  that  important 
governmental  department,  and  his  name  is  writ  large 
in  the  annals  of  American  education.  His  was  a  genial 
and  lovable  nature,  in  which  broad  sympathies  went 
forth  to  professors  and  students.  He  took  an  active 
interest  in  civic  affairs,  and  under  his  influence  and  effort 
the  barrier  that  existed  between  the  college  and  the 
town  was  broken  down.  He  won  favor  with  all  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact,  and  the  cordial  sympathy  of 
the  business  men  and  Marietta  citizens  generally  now 
enjoyed  by  the  college  is,  in  no  small  degree,  the  result 
of  Dr.  Eaton's  work.  Having  allied  himself  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  he  sought  to  win  the  favor  and 
patronage  of  the  numerous  churches  of  that  denomina- 
tion in  this  section  of  Ohio  and  West  Virginia.  This 
policy  proved  a  decided  advantage,  and  the  College  ex- 
perienced much  help  toward  its  present  prosperity. 

The  financial  problem  of  the  College  was  met  by 
Dr.  Eaton  with  rare  tact  and  judgment.  There  were 
many  discouragements,  but  Dr.  Eaton  possessed  heroic 
patience  and  industry,  and  the  institution  was  brought 

64 


safely  to  better  days.  During  his  administration  the 
funds  were  raised  for  the  erection  of  Andrews  Hall  and 
the  work  of  building  begun.  It  was  completed  after  his 
departure,  and  afforded  the  College  manifold  advantages 
in  the  way  of  recitation  rooms  and  chapel. 

When  Dr.  Eaton  arrived  in  Marietta,  the  College 
buildings  consisted  of  the  Dormitory,  Alumni  and  Science 
Halls,  and  the  old  Academy  building,  fronting  on  Fourth 
Street.  In  addition  to  these  was  the  President's  home, 
on  Fifth  Street,  opposite  Mound  Cemetery.  Another 
structure,  the  property  of  the  College,  was  certain  to 
meet  the  eye — I  refer  to  the  old  fence  enclosing  the 
campus.  It  appears  in  all  the  early  pictures  of  the  Col- 
lege, and  is  well  remembered  by  all  the  students  of  former 
years.  Its  ample  top  board  afforded  an  excellent  perch 
and  helped  to  while  away  many  a  social  hour,  as  well 
as  being  a  convenient  retreat  for  scores  of  students  in 
their  eleventh  hour  preparation  for  the  impending  reci- 
tation. Dr.  Eaton's  administration  witnessed  the  removal 
of  this  landmark,  and  all  that  was  lost  as  an  accessory 
to  sociability  and  get-lesson-quick  facility  was  more  than 
compensated  in  the  beauty  added  to  the  campus. 

It  was  during  Dr.  Eaton's  administration  that  the 
centennial  celebrations  of  the  settlement  of  Marietta  took 
place.  The  College  was  one  of  the  chief  centers  of  inter- 
est in  these  events,  and  Dr.  Eaton,  Dr.  Andrews,  the 
faculty,  and  students  joined  heartily  in  the  work  of  pre- 
paring for  and  carrying  out  the  ceremonies.  That  mile- 
stone is  pointed  out  as  the  beginning  of  the  larger  and 
better  city  of  Marietta.  It  also  had  an  undoubtedly 
large  influence  upon  the  College.  At  the  time,  the  whole 
nation  was  in  a  prosperous  condition,  and  the  later  years 
of  Dr.  Eaton's  administration  witnessed  larger  classes 
and  a  quickened  college  spirit.  He  left  the  College  in 
1891  to  take  up  other  work. 

65 


In  speaking  of  Dr.  Eaton,  one  of  his  co-laborers  in 
the  faculty  and  admirers  writes,  "President  Eaton  did 
mot  attempt  much  in  the  line  of  instruction.  His  spe- 
cialty was  pedagogy.  He  was  deeply  religious,  easily 
moved  to  tears  in  a  warm,  emotional,  human  love  for 
truth  and  humanity.  He  was  full  of  genial  humor,  with 
a  good  story  for  every  occasion.  He  was  plain,  straight- 
forward, and  practical  in  public  utterance,  an  acceptable 
lecturer  and  preacher.  His  name  will  always  cast  a 
lustre  on  the  College  he  served.  His  numerous  printed 
addresses,  lectures,  and  books  remain  as  a  rich  legacy 
of  ripe  experience  and  greatness  of  soul." 

In  1892,  Dr.  John  W.  Simpson,  then  pastor  of  one 
of  the  large  Cincinnati  churches,  became  President.  His 
coming  was  greeted  with  enthusiasm  from  the  trustees, 
faculty,  students,  and  friends.  It  is  remembered  that 
when  the  news  of  his  coming  was  received  in  Marietta, 
the  College  bell  was  rung  and  the  class  of  '95,  then  in 
the  middle  of  a  mathematical  recitation,  was  excused 
by  Professor  McKinney.  He  was  a  versatile  and  able 
man,  and  as  a  public  speaker  Marietta  has  known  few 
better.  His  command  of  language,  his  easy  delivery, 
his  animated  and  enthusiastic  manner  gained  for  him  a 
lasting  reputation  as  a  platform  and  pulpit  orator.  Some 
of  his  'best  work  as  a  speaker  was  performed  in  his  short 
chapel  talks  to  the  students.  Choosing  some  precept  or 
example,  which  he  styled  "the  thought  for  the  day,"  he 
never  failed  to  put  his  ideas  in  interesting  and  effective 
form.  It  might  also  be  added  that  not  all  of  these  chapel 
talks  were  brief.  And  as  one  idea  suggested  another 
and  Dr.  Simpson  more  and  more  elaborated  on  the 
thought  for  the  day,  tempus  fugit,  and  the  student  with 
misgivings  as  to  his  ability  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 

66 


recitation  hour  following  chapel,  often  betrayed  his  de- 
light at  the  quantity  as  well  as  the  quality  of  Prexy's 
remarks. 

During  Dr.  Simpson's  administration  a  decided 
advance  was  made.  This  was  accomplished  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  at  the  time  the  whole  nation  was 
passing  through  one  of  the  most  severe  financial  panics 
in  its  history,  in  which  the  College  suffered  its  share. 
But  the  work  of  obtaining  better  facilities,  better  organ- 
ization, improved  curriculum,  and  larger  usefulness  went 
on  steadily.  If  I  were  asked  to  name  the  most  import- 
ant accomplishments  of  the  years  of  Dr.  Simpson's  ad- 
ministration, I  would  say  that  it  was  the  initiation  of 
the  movement  that  ended  in  opening  the  College  doors 
to  young  women.  The  final  step  was  taken  in  1897,  but 
the  movement  was  begun  when  the  Trustees  took  over 
Elizabeth  College  and  organized  it  into  Marietta  College 
for  Women,  giving  the  young  women  all  the  advantages 
enjoyed  by  the  young  men,  but  under  different  roofs. 
The  class  of  1895  has  the  honor  to  include  in  its  roll 
the  names  of  the  first  young  women  to  receive  diplomas 
at  the  hands  of  Marietta  College,  and  from  that  time  to 
this,  from  all  appearances  and  reports,  the  two  sexes  have 
trodden  college  ways  together  in  harmony  and  to  the 
delight  and  satisfaction  of  all  friends  of  the  institution. 
Another  important  accomplishment  of  Dr.  Simpson's 
administration  was  the  bringing  together  in  the  assembly 
room  of  the  newly  occupied  Andrews  Hall  all. the  stu- 
dents of  the  College  and  Academy  in  chapel  exercises. 
Important  changes  were  made  in  the  buildings.  The 
old  chapel  in  Alumni  Hall  was  converted  into  the  College 
Museum,  the  literary  society  halls  were  refitted  and  re- 
furnished, the  physical,  chemical,  and  biological  labora- 
tories were  enlarged  and  modernized.  The  organization 
of  class  room  work  was  changed,  more  elective:? 

67 


were  added,  and  better  results  diligently  sought.  Dr. 
Simpson  left  the  College  in  1896,  and  subsequently  made 
his  residence  in  New  York.  The  news  of  his  tragic  death 
there  last  year  came  as  a  great  shock  to  his  many  Marietta 
College  friends. 

Between  the  time  of  Dr.  Simpson's  resignation  and 
the  coming  of  Dr.  Perry,  in  1900,  the  affairs  of  the 
College  as  concerned  "matters  of  instruction  and  disci- 
pline" were  under  the  guidance  of  Dean  J.  H.  Chamberlin, 
while  the  financial  and  business  affairs  of  the  institution 
were  in  the  hands  of  that  ever  steadfast  and  devoted 
friend,  Mr.  W.  W.  Mills. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  interregnum  that  some 
of  the  most  permanent  and  substantial  progress  in  the 
whole  history  of  the  College  was  made.  The  young 
ladies  were  received  into  the  regular  College  classes, 
the  College  curriculum  was  revised  and  strengthened, 
the  faculty  increased  and  higher  efficiency  obtained 
throughout,  the  debt  which  had  rested  upon  the  College 
had  been  removed  and  the  endowment  increased  by 
$100,000.00.  This  remarkable  change  in  the  financial 
condition  of  the  College  was  brought  about  in  a  very 
large  degree  through  the  tireless  efforts  of  Mr.  Mills, 
whose  time,  energy,  and  thought  have  ever  been  given 
to  the  College,  and  whose  name  today  is  as  firmly  linked 
with  the  institution  as  any  of  the  noble  galaxy  whose 
generous  hearts  and  lofty  minds  have  contributed  to 
make  Marietta  great. 

Professor  Chamberlin's  administration  is  bright  with 
results  accomplished,  and  I  fear  his  work  so  quietly  and 
unostentatiously  done  is  too  little  understood  and  appre- 
ciated. 

When  Dr.  Perry  became  the  College's  President,  in 
1900,  the  care  and  responsibility  fell  on  one  well  fitted  to 
meet  the  problems  of  the  institution.  Few  realize  the 

68 


heroic  work  he  has  accomplished,  but  today,  as  we  review 
those  ten  years  and  count  up  the  great  gain  made,  we  feel 
that  to  him  rightfully  belongs  the  laurel  leaf  of  victory. 
Under  his  leadership  new  buildings,  new  equipment,  new 
energy,  new  spirit  and  interest  have  all  come  to  the  old 
College.  The  new  library  and  dormitory,  so  handsome 
and  well  adapted,  awaken  our  keenest  pride.  It  took 
hard  work  and  united  effort  to  secure  them,  and  to 
Dr.  Perry,  for  his  part  in  the  accomplishment,  we  owe 
a  debt  of  deepest  gratitude. 

Not  only  has  Dr.  Perry  given  an  advance  to  the 
physical  equipment  of  the  College,  but  his  influence  has 
been  felt  in  the  class  room,  among  the  students,  and  with 
the  friends  and  alumni  of  the  institution  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  us  all.  Associations  of  Alumni  have  been  formed 
in  New  England,  New  York,  Columbus,  Chicago,  and 
Cincinnati.  Dr.  Perry  has  been  active  in  bringing  the 
friends  and  alumni  together  in  meetings  of  these  associ- 
ations, creating  thereby  new  interest  in  and  effort  for 
the  College.  There  is,  I  am  happy  to  say,  a  consensus 
of  opinion  that  he  is  the  right  man  in  the  right  place, 
and  it  behooves  us  to  uphold  his  hand  with  every  means 
at  our  command. 

No  account  of  Marietta  College  for  the  past  twenty- 
five  years  would  be  complete  without  special  reference 
to  the  corps  of  professors.  From  the  viewpoint  of  the 
student,  they  are  the  most  important  part  of  the  insti- 
tution. Marietta  has  always  been  fortunate  in  her  faculty 
selections.  From  the  beginning,  choice  has  fallen  on  men 
of  not  only  high  scholarship  and  proficiency,  but  on  those 
of  noble  character  as  well.  Her  roll  of  professors  for 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century  includes  so  many  examples 
where  the  best  of  heart  and  soul  was  joined  with  rare 
mental  attainments,  that  time  forbids  that  all  be  men- 
tioned. 

69 


From  the  names  of  Smith,  Andrews,  Beach,  Rosseter, 
Mitchell,  and  Manatt,  who  have  left  such  lasting  impres- 
sions on  the  students  of  the  previous  period,  we  pass  with 
confidence  to  those  of  Biscoe,  M.  R.  Andrews,  Chamber- 
lin,  Phillips,  Hulbert,  Manley,  McKinney,  and  a  score 
of  others.  How  beautiful  and  inspiring  are  the  lives 
devoted  to  such  splendid  service.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  recount  to  you  the  many  valued  qualities  of  these 
noble  characters ;  you  know  them  well.  In  the  class  room, 
on  the  campus,  wherever  students  meet  professors,  we 
find  the  same  quiet  dignity,  the  same  cordial  friendliness, 
the  same  charity,  and  the  same  wholesome  counsel.  May 
theirs  be  the  fulness  of  years  for  the  College's  sake  as 
well  as  their  own. 

Professor  Biscoe,  so  recently  retired,  was  a  pillar  of 
strength,  and  the  multitude  of  testimonials  of  esteem 
that  came  to  him  at  the  close  of  his  active  work  were 
those  of  heartfelt  appreciation. 

May  Professor  Chamberlin,  who  has  successfully 
conducted  the  Freshmen  with  Hannibal  and  his  host 
across  the  Alps  so  many  times,  be  with  the  College  to 
lead  many  more.  And  may  Professor  Manly  make  many 
another  journey  with  the  Freshmen  and  Xenophon  and 
the  ten  thousand  to  the  plains  of  Persia.  If  I  remember 
correctly,  the  ten  thousand  made  the  march  unmounted, 
but  I  have  an  idea  that  the  Freshmen  have  been  luckier, 
and  that  the  present  ones  may  not  only  be  well  mounted, 
but  about  to  call  biplanes  to  their  assistance. 

In  my  college  days,  the  atmosphere  of  Greek  and 
philosophy  hung  about  Professor  Phillips  in  such 
bewildering  quantity,  that  it  inspired  some  student 
to  inquire  if  the  learned  professor  was  not  some 
sort  of  a  Greek  god  anyway.  Haste  was  made  to 
assure  the  inquiring  one  that  he  was  not  a  Greek  god, 
but  the  College  oracle,  ready  as  the  occasion  required 

70 


to  give  practical  advice  as  well  as  the  tenets  of  Greek 
philosophy,  and  in  the  hearts  of  his  classes  he  rests  on* 
a  pedestal,  the  altitude  and  magnificence  of  which  would 
dazzle  the  most  worthy  Greek  god  that  mythology 
records. 

It  would  require  better  than  I  to  do  justice  to  Profes- 
sor M.  R.  Andrews.  He  was  one  of  the  Boys  of  '61,  and 
I  am  pleased  to  note  he  is  one  of  the  boys  of  1910.  If 
this  old  world  could  be  depended  upon  to  give  the  rewards 
where  they  are  most  deserved,  Professor  Andrews  would 
be  the  possessor  of  all  that  heart  could  desire.  A  great 
many  of  us  have  known  him  as  the  principal  of  the 
Academy.  It  was  there  under  him  we  learned  our  first 
Latin,  and  should  I  live  to  be  a  hundred,  I  will  never 
forget  his  emphasis  on  the  Latin  inflections,  "Bam,  bas, 
bat,  bamus,  batis,  bant.  Young  gentlemen,  why  can't 
you  remember  them?"  For  painstaking  thoroughness, 
nerve  racking  patience,  ceaseless  energy,  and  unselfish 
devotion  to  his  work,  he  challenged  our  admiration  then 
and  possesses  our  undying  gratitude  now. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  recall  others  of  the  period:  Dr. 
Morrison,  so  lately  gone  to  his  reward,  one  of  the 
gentlest  and  most  lovable  characters  that  the  College 
has  ever  known.  Professor  Henry  W.  Hulbert,  enthu- 
siastic, energetic,  and  the  friend  of  every  man.  Profes- 
sor Miter,  both  grave  and  gay.  Professor  McKinney, 
punctual,  exact,  the  essence  of  the  science  he  taught.  I 
wonder  if  the  class  of  1910  has  proved  the  binomial 
theorem.  If  they  have,  I,  for  one,  am  ready  to  give 
them  any  degree  they  might  ask. 

As  the  recipients  of  the  everlasting  benefactions  of 
founders,  trustees,  faculty,  and  friends,  the  students  of 
the  period  necessarily  merit  attention.  They  have  ever 
come  from  the  sturdiest  and  best  stock  the  country 
boasts.  If  Marietta  had  good  seed  to  be  sown,  it  has 

71 


fallen  on  proper  soil  and  Marietta  boys  have  given  good 
account  of  themselves  in  almost  every  career  of  useful- 
ness. The  student  body  at  Marietta  has  ever  possessed 
the  true  democratic  spirit  and  all  distinctions,  save  those 
of  scholarship  and  real  personal  merit,  have  been  un- 
known. I  would  not  have  you  believe  that  they  have 
been  perfect.  The  fact  that  there  are  so  many  of  us 
here  today  is  warrant  for  the  statement  that  we  were  not 
killed  by  our  goodness.  But  whatever  pranks  have  been 
perpetrated  by  Marietta  College  boys,  and  whatever 
blushes  have  been  brought  to  the  cheeks  of  their  elders 
for  them,  I  feel  that  the  record  has  been  blotted  out  by 
the  recording  angel  and  the  incidents  are  closed. 

The  high  standard)  of  scholarship  maintained  fryi 
Marietta  has  won  for  her  an  enviable  place  in  the  educa- 
tional world.  We  feel  a  just  pride  in  the  high  rating 
given  us  by  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Teaching.  We  are  also  proud  of  the  record  of 
her  students.  High  class  instruction  has  found  worthy 
brains  and  energy  to  receive  it,  and  the  record  made 
by  recent  graduates  amply  proves  it :  "Eighteen  members 
of  the  five  classes  of  1904-1908  entered  the  highest  grade 
post-graduate  schools — those  requiring  a  college  diploma 
for  entrance.  Not  all  of  these  have  completed  their 
courses,  but  eleven  have  won  fellowships  (five  giving  the 
privilege  of  European  study),  one  a  first  prize,  and 
two  honors.  Of  these,  six  are  the  highest  honors  given 
in  their  respective  schools." 

Time  renders  it  impossible  to  make  any  detailed  refer- 
ence to  the  various  student  organizations  that  have  flour- 
ished during  the  period.  Literary  societies,  Christian 
associations,  fraternities,  glee  clubs,  oratorical  organi- 
zations, and  others  have  all  marked  their  progress  during 
the  past  twenty-five  years,  with  interesting  events,  but 
probably  in  no  department  of  student  activity  has  there 

72 


been  a  more  noteworthy  advance  in  organization,  meth- 
ods, and  results  accomplished  than  in  that  of  athletics. 
The  more  active  interest  in  this  department  dates  back 
to  some  time  in  Dr.  Eaton's  administration,  when  Pro- 
fessor Henry  W.  Hulbert  was  designated  by  the  faculty  to 
assist  and  encourage  the  movement,  and  today  Marietta 
ranks  with  the  best  of  her  class  in  this  line.  We  have 
given  to  the  base  ball  world  Ban  Johnson  and  Edmund 
Lewis,  and  have  won  a  place  on  the  collegiate  gridiron 
equalled  by  few  institutions  of  our  size.  Rugby  foot 
ball,  the  same  that  is  played  today,  was  introduced  in 
1892.  Previous  to  that  time  the  old  association  rules 
prevailed,  and  I  have  little  doubt  that  not  a  few  of  you 
recall  the  strenuous  contests  of  shins  that  were  engaged 
in,  when  close  quarters  were  encountered  against  the 
east  end  of  the  old  Academy  building. 

One  of  the  most  fortunate  purchases  of  real  estate 
ever  made  by  the  College  was  that  of  the  athletic  field, 
on  Butler  Street,  and  when  Professor  Joseph  Manly  was 
added  to  the  faculty  and  given  direction  of  athletics, 
the  student  body  realized  that  its  lucky  star  was  in  the 
ascendant.  He  was  sponsor  for  clean,  scientific,  and 
wholesome  sport,  and  the  influence  he  has  exerted  to 
foster  and  build  up  this  phase  of  student  activity  accords 
him  a  high  place  in  our  esteem. 

The  gymnasium,  long  wished  for,  came  at  last,  as  the 
logical  result  of  the  athletic  movement,  and  stands  today 
a  monument  to  the  fact  that  Marietta  recognizes  that 
the  care  of  the  body  is  as  essential  as  the  training  of  the 
mind.  All  honor  to  the  men  whose  generosity  made  it 
possible.  Securing  the  athletic  field  was  an  important 
step,  and  putting  a  high  board  fence  about  it,  with  the 
peep  holes  stopped,  was  another.  The  latter  seemed  a 
particularly  hard  task  to  the  boys  of  seventeen  years  ago. 

73 


To  describe  the  history  of  its  accomplishment  is  worthy 
of  the  pen  of  Archer  Butler  Hulbert,  or  some  other  gifted 
student  of  the  day.  How  the  funds  were  all  raised  and 
the  post  holes  dug,  and  the  fence  erected,  would  all  be 
valuable  and  interesting  college  history.  That  the  fence 
was  built  and  out  of  fine  material  is  certain  enough,  but 
the  nature  of  the  foundation  is  not  so  sure,  for  it  is  re- 
called that  the  winds  blew  and  the  rains  fell  and  the 
waters  of  Goose  Creek  rose  and  beat  upon  that  fence, 

and ,  well,  it  isn't  there  today,  and  if  it  ever  occurs 

to  the  college  boys  of  the  future  that  they  need  another 
fence,  they  can  refer  for  data  on  fence  building  to  the 
students  of  seventeen  years  ago.  Experience  in  practical 
affairs  is  often  gained  at  college  as  well  as  elsewhere. 

In  recalling  friends  of  the  College  of  the  past  twenty- 
five  years,  who  were  familiar  figures  at  the  commence- 
ment seasons  and  at  important  college  gatherings,  we 
think  of  many.  Up  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1894, 
Douglas  Putnam  seldom  was  absent.  His  life  and  works 
are  a  part  of  the  most  valued  history  of  Marietta.  He 
is  reverently  and  affectionately  recalled.  Beman  Gates, 
General  Dawes,  Dr.  Maxwell,  Dr.  Tuttle,  and  a  score 
of  others  now  passed  to  the  other  side,  were  familiar 
figures  to  the  students  of  twenty  years  ago. 

From  those  who  have  gone,  we  turn  to  the  living. 
That  faithful  comrade  and  benefactor  of  the  College, 
Hon.  Rodney  M.  Stimson,  whose  fervent  interest  in  the 
institution  for  sixty  years  has  become  familiar  to  every 
student,  we  rejoice  to  know  is  with  us  today,  as  young  in 
spirit  and  as  enthusiastic  as  the  best  of  us.  Mr.  Mills, 
Mr.  Gallaher,  Dr.  Dickinson,  Dr.  Gear,  and  many  others 
are  still  pouring  forth  their  devoted  effort  for  the  College. 
What  thought  of  Marietta  is  complete  without  recalling 
them  ?  And  of  the  noble  women  held  in  grateful  memory, 

74 


what  college  boy  of  the  period  does  not  recall  Mrs.  Mills, 
Mrs.  Chamberlin,  Mrs.  Phillips,  Miss  Anderson,  and  a 
dozen  others? 

May  Marietta  College  of  the  coming  twenty-five  years 
find  friends  as  true  and  devoted  as  those  she  has  had 
during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  May  her  trustees 
and  faculty  be  imbued  with  the  same  lofty  aims  and 
ideals;  may  her  high  standard  of  scholarship  be  main- 
tained ;  may  she  keep  abreast  with  every  worthy  advance 
in  the  cause  of  true  education,  are  the  dearest  wishes  of 
her  alumni. 

A  public  meeting  was  held  Tuesday  evening,  on  Mus- 
kingum  Park,  before  the  regular  meeting  in  the  church, 
in  order  to  give  the  citizens  of  Marietta  an  opportunity 
to  hear  the  governor.  Hon.  D.  B.  Torpy  presided  and 
thus  introduced  him: 

Mr.  Torpy :  Fellow  Citizens,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 
As  chairman  of  the  committee,  it  is  my  honor  and  pleasure 
to  introduce  to  you  your  governor,  the  Hon.  Judson 
Harmon. 


75 


TUESDAY  EVENING,  JUNE  14 

SPEECH  OF  GOVERNOR  JUDSON  HARMON,  AT 
MUSKINGUM  PARK. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen  and  My  Fellow  Citizens: 

I  am  sorry  that  my  coming  is  like  the  cows,  but  I 
couldn't  help  it,  only  like  the  cow  I  was  sure  to  come,  if 
I  didn't  come  until  sundown.  They  told  me  that  if  I 
only  would  have  come  here  in  the  daytime,  I  would  have 
had  a  big  crowd  of  people.  But  if  I  had  come  in  the 
daytime,  I  would  like  to  know  where  they  would  have 
put  the  crowd  of  people,  if  they  are  not  here  now? 

You  may  say  that  this  is  not  a  home-coming  for  me, 
but  I  tell  you  it  is.  It  is  true  that  I  was  not  born  in 
old  Marietta,  but  I  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio 
River,  and  whenever  I  see  the  hills  along  that  river,  I 
know  I  am  at  home.  And  I  am  at  home  in  Marietta, 
because  away  back  in  my  college  days  some  of  my 
most  pleasant  recollections  are  of  a  visit  I  made  to 
Marietta,  coming  down  the  Muskingum  on  a  steamboat, 
in  the  glorious  month  of  October,  and  among  the  friends 
of  my  youth  and  my  manhood  have  been  some  of  those 
Marietta  men  whom  I  then  met.  And  I  feel  that  I 
am  at  home  for  another  reason,  and  that  is  that  the 
people  of  Ohio  make  their  chief  executive  at  home 
wherever  he  goes. 

I  was  fortunate  in  one  of  many  things,  and  that  is 
the  people  of  my  native  state  made  me  governor  in 
the  great  period  of  home-coming  and  centennials,  and 
I  have  been  invited  all  over  the  State  of  Ohio.  I 
have  many  invitations  yet  to  fill  where  the  cities  and 

76 


towns  and  counties  are  celebrating  their  anniversaries 
by  opening  their  doors  to  their  old  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, and  it  has  been  a  revelation  to  me.  I  knew  Ohio 
was  a  great  state  in  every  way;  I  was  aware  of  the 
place  she  holds  in  the  sisterhood  of  states,  but  I  never 
realized  before  as  I  do  now  what  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  it  is,  and  that  is  that,  whenever  there  is  a  home-coming 
of  this  sort  anywhere  in  Ohio,  you  find  people  from  all 
over  the  United  States  who  come  back  and  say,  "My  old 
home  was  here  in  Ohio."  And  if  you  would  trace  the  lines 
over  which  men  and  women  have  gone  out  from  among 
us  to  find  homes  in  newer  states,  and  then  would  trace 
back  to  where  our  fathers  and  mothers  came  from, — 
the  line  they  traveled  to  get  here, — you  would  see  the 
lines  which  bind  these  units  together  and  which  make 
Ohio  the  greatest  home  center  in  the  United  States. 
It  would  have  been  a  great  and  glorious  thing  to  have 
that  mark  of  confidence  by  the  people  of  Ohio  at  any 
time,  but,  as  I  said,  I  feel  especially  honored  and  espe- 
cially proud  to  stand  for  the  grand  old  state  on  occasions 
like  this,  when  I  can  come  and  meet  all  the  people — not 
those  of  one  party,  not  those  of  one  church,  not  those 
of  one  social  state,  but  the  people ;  and  the  beauty  of 
these  home-comings  is  that  there  is  no  place  in  the  world 
where  there  is  a  more  common  level  than  at  the  old  home. 
Those  who  have  won  distinction  and  honor  must  lay 
that  aside  when  they  come  back  and  be  Tom  and  John 
and  Bob  again  with  old  friends  of  their  boyhood. 
If  they  think  they  have  gained  wealth  or  distinction, — 
if  they  have  done  so  even, — they  find,  when  they  come 
back,  that  those  that  stayed  at  home,  while  they  may 
not  have  become  so  prominent  before  the  world,  have 
not  led  less  useful  lives;  that  against  that  wealth,  that 
position,  that  distinction,  the  old  playmates  may  have 
health  or  something  else  which  they  have  lost  or  com- 

77 


promised.  Because  one  of  the  mercies  of  God  is  that 
things  are  equalized  in  some  way — that  nobody  can 
get  it  all,  and  that  if  one  becomes  too  wrapped  up  in 
the  pursuit  of  some  things,  he  loses  others.  It  is  then 
a  great  leveler  and  a  great  equalizer  for  everybody  to 
come  back  home — to  come  bearing  what  he  has, — 
where  he  is  going  to  take  stock  of  what  he  has  accom- 
plished in  this  world. 

I  am  especially  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  of  thus 
meeting  the  people  on  a  plain  level  of  equality,  because 
I  am  for  the  time  being  the  chief  executive;  because 
my  theory  of  government  is  that  the  more  of  home 
there  is  in  it  the  better.  Why  do  we  love  our  native 
land?  Why,  because  somewhere  in  it  is  the  spot  where 
we  were  born,  the  roof  that  sheltered  our  infancy,  the 
soil  our  bare  feet  trod,  and  the  church  and  the  school- 
house  and  the  playmates  and  comrades  of  our  youth. 
And  because  we  love  that  home  we  love  all  the  other 
homes, — some  far  and  some  near, — which,  united 
together  by  common  interests  and  common  purposes, 
make  up  the  great  community  which  we  call  our 
country,  and  the  love  of  which  we  call  patriotism.  Why, 
what  is  government  for  but  to  protect  your  home  and 
mine?  What  are  officials  chosen  for  except  to  see  that 
no  more  is  asked  from  those  homes  for  public  support 
than  the  government,  economically  administered,  re- 
quires? That  it  acts  fairly  toward  all  and  extends  no 
special  favors,  and  sees  that  no  man  shall  take  advantage 
of  the  confidence  of  the  people  to  advance  his  selfish 
interests,  or  to  line  his  pockets  with  the  money  taken 
from  those  homes. 

And  so  I  say  it  is  an  inspiring  thing  for  anybody 
who  is  entrusted  with  a  public  position,  who  is  acting  on 
behalf  of  the  people  by  their  free  choice,  to  come  and 
see  them  gather  thus,  and  realize  that  to  the  extent  of 

78 


the  power  and  authority  committed  to  him,  the  homes 
whence  they  came  and  to  which  they  come,  the  homes 
long  builded  and  the  home  just  going  up, — those  altars 
of  domestic  happiness, — that  they  look  to  him  to  see 
that  the  power  and  authority  that  is  conferred  upon 
him  shall  be  exercised  solely  for  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  conferred — to  make  those  homes  safe  for  them  to 
live  in  and  to  do  everything  possible  for  the  happiness 
and  welfare  of  their  occupants,  and  make  this  country 
not  a  great  nation  ready  for  war,  not  a  great  community 
cultivating  the  fighting  instinct,  or  the  selfish  instinct, 
or  the  conquering  instinct,  but  a  great  collection  of 
homes,  where  religion  and  morality  and  domestic  fidelity 
find  their  abode;  and  that  is  what  constitutes  a  prosper- 
ous and  happy  people. 

Now,  I  know  perfectly  well  that  home-comings  are 
not  the  places  to  talk — while  I  am  a  home- 
comer  in  a  broad  sense,  as  I  have  said,  I  really  haven't 
got  any  old  friends  to  see.  When  I  want  to  go  back 
to  where  they  call  me  Jud,  and  slap  me  on  the  back,  and 
remind  me  of  the  tricks  I  used  to  play  when  I  was  a 
boy,  I  have  to  go  somewhere  else.  But  now  you  are 
here  for  that  purpose,  and  I  have  always  said  that  a 
home-coming  occasion  was  one  for  thought,  one  for 
sentiment,  one  for  the  greeting  of  friends  and  for  re- 
calling the  memories  of  friends  who  will  come  no  more, 
and,  therefore,  I  never  fail  to  feel  that  I  am  abusing  a 
privilege  when  I  am  asked  by  the  people  as  a  courtesy 
on  these  occasions  to  get  up  and  talk  to  them,  if  I  do 
more  than  express  my  gratification  at  seeing  them 
together  on  such  an  occasion,  my  thankfulness  for  their 
invitation,  and  my  appreciation  of  their  warm  reception. 
And  so  I  think  it  is  my  duty  not  to  presume  to  speak, 
but  to  sit  down  and  let  the  old  friends  get  together.  God 
knows  whether  we  will  ever  come  together  again.  That 

79 


is  one  of  the  sad  things  of  these  meetings.  We  never 
know,  when  the  next  time  comes  around,  if  we  will  meet 
the  old  friends,  or  if  we  will  be  here  to  meet  them  our- 
selves. So,  I  say,  it  is  a  time  for  sentiment,  for  good 
feeling,  for  the  renewal  of  old  ties,  for  the  revival  of 
old  memories,  and,  therefore,  I  simply  thank  you  for 
this  magnificent  attendance  on  such  an  occasion  as  this; 
and  if  there  is  any  of  it  that  isn't  official  merely, — if 
any  of  it  caused  you  to  think,  from  anything  I  have 
done  or  tried  to  do,  that  I  have  been  the  champion  of 
the  home,  that  I  have  been  the  champion  of  the  people, 
that  I  have  tried  in  every  way  in  my  power,  no  matter 
what  the  obstacles,  to  make  the  people  see  that,  to  the 
extent  of  my  power,  I  was  serving  their  interests  and 
those  of  nobody  else, — if  there  is  anything  in  that,  then 
I  am  the  proudest  man  at  this  home-coming  tonight. 


80 


GOVERNOR  JUDSON  HARMON 


TUESDAY   EVENING,  JUNE  14 

CONFERRING  OF  HONORARY  DEGREE  UPON 
GOVERNOR  JUDSON   HARMON. 


After  the  address  on  the  park,  Gov.  Harmon  entered 
the  already  crowded  church  and  was  warmly  greeted 
by  the  people  there  gathered  as,  accompanied  by  President 
Perry  and  Mr.  Mills,  he  made  his  way  to  the  platform. 
After  a  song  by  the  quartette,  President  Perry  said: 

Friends  of  Marietta  College:  We  greet  you  at  this 
anniversary  service.  We  trust  that,  in  the  days  to  follow, 
we  may  have  your  sympathetic  presence,  and  that  you 
will  enjoy  the  programs  that  have  been  arranged  for  you. 

He  then  called  upon  Rev.  Henry  H.  Kelsey,  pastor 
of  the  old  First  Church,  to  lead  in  prayer.  After  this, 
addressing  the  governor,  he  said : 

President  Perry  :     Honored  Sir : 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  we  welcome  you  to 
these  anniversary  exercises.  As  the  chief  executive  of 
this  great  commonwealth,  you  have  come  to  this  spot 
where  the  foundations  of  this  state  were  laid,  and  where 
higher  education  in  this  whole  Northwest  had  its  begin- 
ning. In  the  name  of  Marietta  College,  of  its  alumni 
and  friends,  and  of  the  citizens  of  this  beautiful  city,  I 
extend  to  you  a  hearty  salutation.  We  are  glad  also 
that  you  honor  us  by  entering  today  the  ranks  of  Mari- 
etta alumni.  As  a  lawyer  of  distinguished  talents,  a 
citizen  of  shining  probity,  a  wise  and  conscientious  and 
courageous  executive,  as  the  trusted  governor  of  our 
beloved  state,  we  greet  you. 

81 


Therefore,  by  the  authority  given  me  by  the  Trus- 
tees of  Marietta  College,  I  do  now  confer  upon  you, 
Judson  Harmon,  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws, 
and  bid  you  enjoy  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  preroga- 
tives pertaining  to  that  degree.  In  testimony  whereof, 
the  Secretary  of  the  College  will  present  you  with  the 
appropriate  diploma. 

Governor  Harmon  said :  Mr.  President,  and,  fol- 
lowing his  example,  Friends  of  Marietta  College, 
and,  therefore,  as  I  am  now  on  the  roll,  My 
Friends : 

It  is  no  new  thing  for  me  to  be  associated  with  Mari- 
etta College,  because,  when  I  was  a  student  myself  more 
years  ago  than  I  am  willing  to  admit  before  all  of  these 
ladies,  one  of  my  dearest  memories  is  of  coming  to 
Marietta  College  down  the  beautiful  Muskingum  on  a 
steamer  and  spending  several  days  here,  and  I  made  then 
friends  whose  friendship  has  abided  until  now,  and  one 
of  them  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  today  for  the  first 
time  in  many  years,  and  he  is  a  bigger  man  than  I  am, 
for  while  I  am  only  governor  of  a  state,  he  is  president 
of  a  Presbyterian  Church. 

It  would  not  do  for  a  Doctor  of  Laws  to  trust  himself 
to  the  spur  of  the  moment,  and  not  having  been  entirely 
surprised  by  this  honor, — for  they  never  do  surprise  you 
with  these  things,  they  make  a  little  investigation  as 
to  whether  you  are  really  fit  for  it, — knowing  that  this 
honor  was  in  store  for  me,  I  jotted  down  on  the  train 
a  few  words  which  I  hoped  would  be  more  nearly 
up  to  the  degree  than  anything  I  could  say  without 
preparation.  And  as  they  are  very  short,  and  as  you 
know  I  can  talk  on  some  subjects  without  paper,  I  am 
going  to  ask  you  to  bear  with  me  for  a  moment. 

82 


Marietta  set  the  fashion  for  her  sister  cities  in  cen- 
tennial celebrations,  which  was  her  right  as  the  firstborn. 
Yet  leading  them  all  as  she  does  into  the  second  quarter 
of  a  second  century,  how  young  she  is.  The  pilgrims 
on  the  Mayflower  of  the  Ohio  were  not  the  first  to  make 
their  homes  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum.  Who 
were  and  whence  came  the  former  settlers  there,  and 
whether  they  were  the  first  here  we  shall,  perhaps,  never 
know,  nor  how  long  they  lived  here.  But  the  trees 
growing  on  their  walls  and  houses  have  borne  witness 
to  almost  five  hundred  years  since  those  people  perished 
or  were  driven  away.  But  we  know  they  did[  not 
willingly  leave  this  lovely  spot. 

Living  cities  which  reckon  their  existence  in  units 
of  a  thousand  years  must  have  smiled  with  indulgence 
when  Marietta  assumed  the  dignity  of  age  at  an  hun- 
dred, and  men  who  have  seen  or  read  of  a  series  of 
cities,  one  built  upon  the  ruins  of  another,  all  buried  by 
the  hand  of  time,  when  they  consider  the  past  and  the 
present  and  witness  centennial  celebrations,  wonder  how 
lasting  will  the  superstructure  be.  No  city  can  stand 
this  test  better  than  Marietta.  Her  settlers  were  not 
vagrants,  nor  outcasts,  nor  a  haphazard  body  of  immi- 
grants. They  did  not  leave  a  land  where  they  were 
ground  down  or  oppressed,  and  they  went  to  one  whose 
fundamental  laws  they  helped  fashion  and  were  them- 
selves to  establish.  For  Manasseh  Cutler,  during  his  stay 
in  Washington,  secured  the  grant  to  Ohio  and  the  ordi- 
nance for  the  government  of  the  Northwest  Territory. 
And  no  settlement  was  ever  made  by  man  anywhere  on 
the  face  of  the  earth  on  such  a  living  rock  as  that  fore- 
runner of  the  Constitution  afforded  to  Marietta.  It  was 
a  span  of  religion,  morality,  and  knowledge, — these 
three, — which  were  declared  to  be  necessary  to  good 
government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind  in  addition 


to  the  civil  and  religious  liberty  proclaimed  and  estab- 
lished throughout  the  land  for  ever.  And  this  was  not 
a  mere  announcement  of  principle,  but  a  liberty  was 
secured  by  every  safeguard  approved  by  the  principles 
of  a  people's  government  or  suggested  by  knowledge  of 
human  temptations  and  infirmities,  so  religion,  morality, 
and  knowledge  were  not  left  to  shift  for  themselves. 
They  were  secured  by  an  immediate  provision  of  means 
for  their  establishment  and  perpetuation.  Cutler  secured 
from  Congress  not  only  laws  for  the  homes  of  the  set- 
tlers of  the  new  region,  but  also  in  this  same  grant  a 
section  in  each  township  for  the  support  of  religion, 
another  for  the  support  of  schools,  and  two  entire  town- 
ships for  a  university.  Those  who  asked  and  those  who 
granted  understood  that  liberty  could  not  long  endure 
without  enlightenment  of  mind  and  spirit  to  give  under 
standing  and  to  inspire  human  conduct  with  the  precepts 
of  Christianity.  They  knew  that  religion  without  knowl- 
edge would  soon  be  superstition,  and  that  knowledge 
without  religion  was  a  vain  and  dangerous  thing,  be- 
cause the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom; 
and  as  the  poet  has  said: 

"How  empty  is  learning  and  vain  is  art 
But  as  it  mends  the  life  and  guides  the  heart." 

Provision  for  public  worship  and  common  schools 
were  to  be  expected,  but  a  university  in  the  wilderness! 
Surely  there  must  have  been  some  to  whom  that  seemed 
absurd.  Perhaps  it  was  these  who  put  Cutler  to  so  much 
trouble  and  delayed  the  making  of  the  grant.  The 
pioneers  were  to  clear  away  forests  and  fight  the  Indians. 
Their  children  would  be  fortunate  to  get  a  knowledge 
of  the  "three  rs"  before  taking  up  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence. But  in  the  end  they  prevailed  whose  persistency 
saved  the  Northwest  to  the  new  republic,  and  who  had 

84 


some  insight  or  presentment  of  what  would  follow  this 
beginning  of  this  settlement.  The  churches  and  the 
schools  quickly  followed  in  the  pathway  of  these  pioneers. 

It  would  have  been  folly  to  found  a  college  until 
several  years  had  subdued  the  dangers  of  the  early  settle- 
ment and  the  vicissitudes  of  a  new  establishment  in  the 
wilderness  had  been  outlived,  but  in  due  time  the  academy 
was  extended  to  the  college  and  it  became  what  it  i§ 
today.  Marietta  College  has  been  a  blessing  to  the  city 
and  to  the  state.  It  is  the  best  monument  that  can  be 
reared  to  the  memory  of  the  heroic  band  who,  on  that 
April  day,  founded  this  commonwealth  of  the  Northwest 
Territory.  It  embraces  their  high  purpose  better  than 
granite  or  bronze,  for  these  tell  only  of  things  done, 
while  that  continues  forever.  In  it  they  still  live  and  act. 

I  do  not  know  what  became  of  those  two  townships. 
They  probably  shared  the  fate  of  the  school  and  min- 
isterial lands,  which  still  afford  mere  pittances  to  the 
support  of  the  objects  for  which  they  were  granted, 
having  been  sold  or  leased  by  men  of  little  faith,  who 
failed  to  see  the  greatness  of  the  future.  But  this  jubilee 
cannot  be  celebrated  without  further  adorning  this  Col- 
lege, and  if  I  may  judge  its  alumni  and  all  the  citizens  of 
Marietta  by  those  I  know  personally,  this  jubilee  will  not 
lack  gems.  I  know  the  madness  of  big  things  is  now 
upon  us,  and  some  think  lightly  of  the  lesser  institutions 
of  learning,  for  which  Ohio,  among  all  the  states,  is 
noted,  but  I  believe  these  are  among  the  chief  sources  of 
her  greatness.  There  is  not  a  place  in  this  state  from 
which  an  institution  for  higher  education  is  not  easily 
reached,  and  their  presence  among  the  people  all  over 
the  state  stimulates  as  well  as  meets  the  demand  for  such 
education. 

Most,  if  not  all,  our  lesser  colleges  owe  their  estab- 
lishment largely  to  the  interest  of  the  churches.  It  was 


the  same  necessary  dependence  on  each  other  of  religion 
and  knowledge  whose  certain  offspring  is  sound  and 
vigorous  morality.  Narrow  sectarianism  has  long  since 
disappeared  from  the  field  where  it  once  existed,  and  the 
broad  religious  spirit  which  prevails  in  them,  and  I  hope 
always  will  prevail  in  them,  is  most  wholesome.  I  would 
not  part  with  the  chapel  and  religious  services  in  a  college, 
nor  let  them  be  elective  either.  We  need  our  great  uni- 
versities, whose  liberal  endowments  enable  them  to  give 
every  advantage  to  students  in  all  kinds  of  research.  I 
used  to  feel  sorry  that  I  could  not  call  one  of  them  alma 
mater  and  enjoy  the  broader  comradeship  which  add  so 
much  to  life.  But  this  was  far  beyond  my  reach,  and 
this  vain  regret  long  ago  gave  way  to  thankfulness 
that  from  the  age  of  sixteen  to  twenty  I  was  able  to  attend 
another  Ohio  college  much  like  Marietta,  founded  like 
Marietta  by  a  colony  from  New  England  of  God-fearing 
men  and  women.  My  hand  and  spirit  have  never  lost  the 
impress  they  received  from  the  loyal  and  devoted  men 
who,  with  unsurpassed  unselfishness,  maintained  and 
conducted  that  college. 

No,  we  cannot  spare  our  little  home  colleges.  I  like 
that  word  "home," — home  colleges, — because  higher  edu- 
cation is  the  peculiar  and  special  privilege  of  the  home. 
All  that  is  needed  is  properly  to  maintain  and  endow 
them,  so  that  they  may  accomplish  easily  and  well  the 
work  which  they,  in  a  great  many  cases,  alone  can  do. 
I  believe  that  colleges  like  Marietta  are  generally  more 
free  from  commercial  spirit,  which  should  be  separate 
and  distinct  from  general  culture.  The  prime  object  of 
education  is  to  make  a  man  of  the  boy,  no  matter  what 
he  does  afterward;  and  this  means  general  development 
and  training  of  his  powers — the  broadening  of  his  hori- 
zon, amid  encouraging  and  corrective  surroundings  in 
which  his  individuality  may  be  fashioned.  I  do  not  say 

86 


that  this  may  not  be  done  elsewhere,  nor  that  it  is  not 
accomplished,  'but  I  do  believe  there  is  less  in  the  way 
of  it  in  the  simpler  life  of  our  smaller  colleges. 

The  usefulness  of  a  man  that  is  educated  is  not  limited 
to  the  occupation  he  selects  in  life.  Knowledge  and 
understanding  broaden  his  views  and  purposes.  He 
feels  a  quickening  of  unselfish  desires.  He  is  alive  to 
the  dignity  of  serving  a  great  people  working  out  for 
themselves  the  problems  of  civil  government;  and  when 
called  to  public  service,  they  give  to  it  more  than  they 
receive.  They  are  not  to  be  misled  by  ideas  tried  and 
discarded  in  other  lands  and  times,  and  they  will  lend 
their  trained  intelligence  and  moral  staunchness  to  the 
public  welfare. 

It  is  fitting  that  I  should  be  here  to  declare  for  the 
state  which,  by  the  generous  confidence  of  its  people,  I 
represent  for  a  little  while,  her  obligations  to  those 
who  founded  this  institution  of  learning  and  have  so 
long  maintained  it  on  the  spot  where  she  had  her  own 
beginning,  and  to  wish  for  it  many  returns  of  the  day, 
each  showing  an  advance  in  prosperity  and  usefulness. 


(The  choir  here  sang  very  effectively,  "Tenting 
Tonight  on  the  Old  Camp  Ground.") 

President  Perry:  We  are  to  have  tonight  a  review 
of  certain  fields  in  which  the  influence  of  this  College 
has  been  especially  manifested,  and  after  listening  to  this 
tender  and  beautiful  song,  which  has  carried  our  thoughts 
back  to  the  time  of  the  nation's  great  struggle,  we  are 
prepared,  I  am  sure,  to  listen  to  the  part  that  this  Col- 
lege played  in  the  great  conflict,  as  it  will  be  told  us 
by  Col.  Douglas  Putnam,  of  the  class  of  '59. 


87 


MARIETTA  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 
By  Col.  Douglas  Putnam,  '59. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  and  Fellow  Alumni: 
I  regret  exceedingly  that  he  who  had  been  selected 
first  to  present  this  subject,  my  classmate  and  intimate 
friend,  Col.  T.  J.  Cochran,  of  California,  could  not  be 
here  on  account  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Cochran.  When 
asked  by  President  Perry  to  take  his  place,  my  first 
impulse  was  to  decline  definitely,  but  on  after  thought  I 
felt  that  it  was  a  duty  I  owed  to  my  comrades,  nearly  all 
of  whom  had  passed  away,  to  keep  green  their  memory 
on  this  jubilee  day  of  our  alma  mater.  I  seemed  to 
hear  their  voices  from  the  unseen  world  about  us,  say- 
ing: "Don't  neglect  us;  tell  our  story;  let  us  be  remem- 
bered, even  if  it  be  for  only  a  few  moments."  So,  fully 
conscious  of  my  inability  to  do  the  subject  justice,  I 
said  that,  if  no  one  better  fitted  than  I  could  be  present, 
I  would  do  the  best  I  could. 

In  preparing  the  sketch,  I  am  much  indebted  to  the 
article  of  President  Andrews,  written  in  1878,  on  "Mari- 
etta College  in  the  War  of  Secession."  During  the  whole 
of  that  momentous  struggle  the  facts  show  that  the  grad- 
uates and  undergradates  of  this  College  were  conspicuous 
in  many  most  memorable  engagements  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  country.  There  was  hardly  a  great  battle  in  which 
some  of  the  students  or  alumni  were  not  engaged.  Sit- 
uated as  Marietta  was, — a  border  town  and  a  gateway 
to  the  South, — it  became  a  point  of  rendezvous  for  troops, 
for  organization  and  drilling  of  recruits.  The  founders 

88 


PRESIDENT  TAFT  AT  THE  MILLS  HOMESTEAD 


GOVERNOR  HARMON  AT  MARIETTA 


of  the  College  being,  to  a  large  extent,  the  descendants 
of  the  pioneers  who  landed  here  in  1788,  the  same  spirit 
of  patriotism  and  love  of  country  seemed  to  permeate 
the  College  and  those  connected  with  it.  The  services 
of  one  of  its  oldest  trustees,  Col.  William  R.  Putnam, 
in  taking  command  of  the  post  at  Marietta,  called  in  his 
honor,  "Camp  Putnam,"  and  in  organizing  and  equipping 
for  the  field  several  regiments,  were  most  freely  rendered 
and  faithfully  performed.  This  camp  was  continued, 
with  him  in  charge,  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  called 
to  his  assistance  many  of  the  students,  whose  intelligent 
service  was  but  another  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the 
educated  man  sooner  learns  to  perform  well  new  and 
unaccustomed  tasks  than  the  one  who  has  not  a  trained 
mind.  In  this  connection  it .  is  not  amiss  to  say  that 
there  were  no  clearer  or  more  exactly  correct  accounts, 
in  strict  accordance  with  the  army  regulations,  rendered 
in  the  Quartermaster's  Department  than  those  of  Theo- 
dore E.  Greenwood,  class  of  1859,  who,  seemingly  too 
young  and  inexperienced,  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Den- 
nison  quartermaster  of  so  important  a  post  as  that  of 
Marietta  in  1861.  But  all  duties  were  not  only  cor- 
rectly and  promptly,  but  most  admirably  and  brilliantly 
performed. 

In  the  first  troops  that  volunteered  and  left  Ohio  for 
Virginia,  in  the  First  and  Second  Ohio  Infantry,  were 
three  graduates  of  Marietta,  T.  J.  Cochran,  B.  D. 
Fearing,  and  Lawrence  Waldo,  all  private  soldiers, 
influenced  so  to  volunteer  solely  by  motives  of  patriotism. 
All  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  near  Manassas 
Junction. 

Time  will  prevent  me  from  making  a  full  sketch  of 
each  of  our  martyred  dead,  even  if  the  requisite  infor- 
mation could  be  obtained  at  this  day.  The  number 
of  students  was  largely  diminished  by  the  war.  During 


the  whole  four  years  of  the  struggle  undergraduates 
were  continually  laying  aside  their  books  and  taking 
their  places  in  the  army.  It  was  not  until  1870  that  the 
numbers  then  lost  were  regained;  so  that  for  a  period 
of  nearly  ten  years  the  College  showed  the  effects  of  the 
war.  Seven  consecutive  classes,  from  1859  to  1866, 
are  represented  in  the  sacrificial  offerings  thus  freely 
made. 

The  first  student  to  fall  in  battle  was  young  Theodore 
Tupper,  of  the  class  of  1863,  killed  at  Shiloh,  Tenn., 
1862,  a  lineal  descendant  of  two  of  the  Revolutionary 
Army  pioneers  and  bearing  the  name  of  one  of  them. 
But  how  rapidly  the  roll  grows  as  time  passed.  Three 
valedictorians  laid  down  their  lives  in  battle  soon  after — 
Timothy  L.  Condit,  of  1860,  at  Stone  River;  Theodore 
E.  Greenwood,  of  1859,  from  illness  contracted  at  the 
battle  of  luka ;  and  George  B.  Turner,  of  blessed  memory, 
of  1862,  at  Missionary  Ridge.  Of  others  we  find  the 
names  of  Holden  and  North,  class  of  1863;  Green, 
Laughlin,  Blakely,  Keyes,  Waldo,  Bosworth,  Clark,  and 
Eifort.  One  of  the  saddest  deaths,  late  in  the  war  (1864), 
was  that  of  young  Charles  B.  Gates,  who  enlisted  from 
motives  of  patriotism  only,  saying  to  those  who  would 
dissuade  him,  speaking  to  his  brother-in-law,  "You  be- 
long to  the  Iron  Brigade.  How  do  you  think  I  would 
feel,  being  in  the  same  family  and  taking  no  part  in  this 
war?"  And  so  he  would  enlist.  Starting  with  his 
regiment,  148th  O.  V.  L,  for  Harper's  Ferry,  an  accident 
to  the  train  occurred  before  reaching  Parkersburg,  in 
which  two  of  his  fellow-students  were  killed  and  he 
injured.  But  he  persisted  in  going  forward,  and  died 
before  his  friends  could  reach  him  at  Harper's  Ferry. 

Few  of  the  older  citizens  here  will  ever  forget  that 
day  when  all  that  was  mortal  of  Captain  Beale  Whittlesey 
and  Adjutant  George  B.  Turner  lay  in  state  in  Ps* 

90 


Gamma  Hall,  their  lives  lost  at  Missionary  Ridge,  in 
November,  1863.  Whittlesey,  brave  and  impetuous, 
having  always  from  boyhood  a  military  turn,  fell  with 
a  ball  through  his  heart  in  the  terrible  assault,  leading 
his  men  with  musket  in  his  hand,  telling  them  to  "go 
forward;  I  am  killed."  He  had  one  of  those  unexplained 
premonitions  that  he  would  not  escape,  making  his  will, 
remembering  Psi  Gamma,  and  asking  his  friend,  should 
he  not  get  through  alive,  to  tell  his  father  that  he  did 
his  duty.  No  braver,  more  earnest  soldier  ever  died 
on  the  battle  field  than  Capt.  Whittlesey.  George  B. 
Turner,  valedictorian  of  his  class,  gentle  and  beloved 
by  everybody,  in  the  army  not  from  love  of  its  life, 
which  was  distasteful  to  him,  but  from  love  of  his 
country,  enlisting  as  a  private  soldier  during  the  absence 
of  his  parents,  promoted  to  non-commissioned  officer 
and  commissioned  officer  and  adjutant  of  his  regiment, 
his  commander  falling,  one-third  of  the  officers  and 
one-fifth  of  the  men  killed  or  wounded  on  that  field  of 
death  (which  is  the  wonder  of  all  military  students  who 
have  visited  the  spot  and  studied  the  ground),  reaching 
the  summit,  the  only  field  officer  of  his  regiment  on  duty, 
encouraging  the  remnant  of  the  regiment  and  waving 
his  sword,  he  received  his  death  wound.  He  was  car- 
ried to  Chattanooga,  where,  in  the  tent  of  his  command- 
ing officer,  he  was  visited  by  his  general,  the  commander 
of  the  brigade,  and  asked  if  he  would  like  to  be  placed 
on  his  staff,  his  reply  in  his  feebleness  being,  "I  want 
to  be  where  I  may  be  of  the  most  service."  With  his 
pocket  Testament  opened  to  the  fourteenth  chapter  of 
John,  he  read,  "Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled;  neither 
let  it  be  afraid."  Further  on  he  found,"!  will  not  leave 
you  comfortless;  I  will  come  to  you."  He  made  no 
complaint,  and  had  little  to  say,  but  knew  from  whence 
his  strength  came,  and  when  taken,  by  direction  of  his 

91 


surgeon,  our  Dr.  Cotton,  to  a  house  near  by,  with  his 
hearty  handclasp,  his  good  bye  was,  "Good  bye,  Colonel ; 
we  will  go  home  together,"  and  his  pure  soul  now  dwells 
in  the  land  prepared  for  those  who  showed  their  love  for 
Him  by  their  lives  and  by  their  sacrifices,  even  though 
it  was  unto  death. 

How  can  I  bring  to  your  memory,  those  of  our  num- 
ber who  came  home,  of  Gen.  B.  D.  Fearing,  the  dashing 
soldier  who  seemed  to  love  arms  as  a  profession  ?  He  was 
in  the  first  battle  of  the  War  at  Bull  Run,  in  almost  the 
last  at  Bentonville,  and  between  these  at  Shiloh  and  at 
Chickamauga,  where  he  was  wounded,  and  transported 
with  his  adjutant,  Lieut.  David  E.  Putnam,  now  b. 
trustee  of  Marietta  College,  who  was  also  grievously 
wounded,  in  a  springless  army  wagon,  over  the  rough 
roads  to  Bridgeport,  Tenn.,  a  distance  of  over  sixty  miles. 
Arriving  there  much  exhausted  with  suffering,  recov- 
ering in  time,  he  joined  his  regiment  again  and  marched 
with  Sherman  to  the  sea.  He  was  again  wounded  in 
almost  the  last  battle  of  the  war,  where  he  was  in  com- 
mand of  a  brigade  at  Bentonville,  N.  C.  Always  active, 
energetic,  strenuous,  beloved  by  his  men,  trusted  by  his 
superiors,  his  career  shed  credit  and  renown  on  his 
alma  mater. 

And  how  can  I  pay  my  just  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  the  Dawes  brothers,  their  sons  and  nephews  being  now 
honored  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, — and  well 
it  is  that  they  are?  The  one,  Gen.  Rufus  R.  Dawes, 
seemed  to  bear  a  charmed  life,  being  the  only  man  of 
his  regiment  who  escaped  wounds  or  death,  participating 
in  fifteen  or  more  great  general  engagements,  belonging 
to  a  regiment  and  brigade  noted  for  severe  and  incessant 
service — the  Sixth  Wisconsin  of  the  Iron  Brigade,  so 
decimated  finally  as  not  to  have  men  enough  to  permit 
of  his  being  mustered  in  to  his  full  advanced  rank.  His 

92 


brother,  Maj.  E.  C.  Dawes,  served  in  the  Western  Army 
at  Shiloh,  at  Chickamauga,  and  at  Dallas,  and  while  re- 
sisting a  charge  at  Resacka,  Ga.,  shouting,  "Shoot  that 
traitor,"  received  one  ball  from  the  flank,  tearing  away 
his  lower  jaw  and  another  slightly  wounding  him  on  the 
back  of  the  head.  With  valor,  patience,  and  endurance 
equal  to  any  Spartan,  he  bore  patiently  his  sufferings, 
took  up  life's  duties  manfully,  but,  as  with  Fearing,  Gen. 
R.  R.  Dawes,  and  others,  with  constitution  weakened 
and  impaired  by  exposure  and  suffering.  Suffering 
uncomplainingly,  their  lives  were  shortened,  and  all  that 
was  mortal  of  the  three,  the  dashing  Fearing,  the  brave 
Dawes  brothers,  now  rest  and  is  tenderly  cared  for  in 
the  cemeteries  of  this  city.  May  their  lives  and  deaths, 
with  our  other  dead,  be  held  in  sacred  memory  in  the 
annals  of  Marietta  College! 

Time  forbids  that  I  speak  of  many  others  whose 
services  were  faithful  and  constant.  Of  Surgeon  J.  D. 
Cotton,  most  earnest  and  conscientious  in  caring  for 
the  sick  of  his  regiment,  and  even  when  sick  himself, 
and  in  spite  of  remonstrance  of  his  colonel,  he  would 
accompany  his  regiment,  saying,  "I  am  going  with  you, 
and  if  I  die,  you  will  bury  me."  Of  Col.  E.  B.  Andrews, 
of  the  same  class  (1842),  of  Prof.  M.  R.  Andrews,  of 
Quartermaster  R.  M.  Newport,  and  many  others.  But 
it  is  of  interest  to  know  that,  of  two  hundred  and  forty- 
four  alumni  who  were  living  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
eighty-seven  were  in  the  war,  being  over  thirty-five 
per  cent.  Of  undergraduates  in  the  war,  there  were 
fifty-six,  and  of  preparatory  students  there  were  thirty- 
eight,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-one. 
Of  this  number,  ten  were  in  the  Confederate  Army,  being 
mostly  those  of  the  older  alumni,  whose  records  there 
seem  to  have  been  brilliant. 

93 


How  hard  it  is  at  this  day  to  realize  the  awfulness 
of  that  struggle,  and  how  far  in  losses  it  exceeded  any 
other  war  in  the  world  of  which  we  have  any  record. 
To  think  that  there  were  single  battles,  and  several  of 
them,  too,  in  which  the  casualties  were  greater  than  all 
the  wars  in  which  the  United  States  had  ever  been  en- 
gaged combined,  including  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
the  War  of  1812,  the  Mexican  War,  all  of  the  Indian 
wars,  and  the  Spanish  War.  In  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  in  which  I  think  were  engaged  more  of  the 
Marietta  students  and  alumni  than  in  any  other  single 
engagement,  the  percentage  of  actual  casualties  nearly 
doubled  the  bloody  records  of  Marengo  and  Austerlitz, 
more  than  doubled  that  suffered  by  the  army  under 
Henry  of  Navarre,  were  nearly  three  times  as  heavy 
as  the  percentage  of  loss  at  Solferino  and  Magenta,  five 
times  greater  than  that  of  Napoleon  at  Wagram,  and 
about  ten  times  as  heavy  as  that  of  Marshall  Saxe  at 
Bloody  Rancoux.  Or  if  we  take  the  average  percentage 
of  loss  in  a  number  of  the  world's  great  battles,  say 
Waterloo,  Wagram,  Valny,  Magenta,  Solferino,  Zurich, 
and  Lodi,  we  find  by  comparison  that  the  loss  at  Chicka- 
mauga  exceeds  them  nearly  three  for  one;  nor  can  it 
truthfully  be  maintained  that  this  great  disparity  can 
be  accounted  for  by  the  superiority  of  arms  used,  for 
the  fact  remains  that  the  woods  at  Chickamauga  and  in 
some  parts  of  the  Shiloh  field  and  the  battle  in  the 
Wilderness  were  so  thick  as  to  render  the  two  lines 
almost  hidden  from  sight.  This  terrible  persistency  and 
dogged  courage  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  contestants,  who  were  all  American  citizens 
of  equal  courage  and  determination  to  battle,  even  unto 
death,  for  what  seemed  to  them  at  that  time  to  be  right. 

A  new  generation  has  come  upon  the  stage,  to  whom, 
to  a  great  extent  at  least,  such  statistics  as  I  have  just 

94 


repeated  may  not  carry  their  full  meaning.  For  these 
figures  I  am  indebted  to  Gen.  John  B.  Gordon,  of  the 
Confederate  Army,  in  his  exceedingly  valuable  book, 
"Reminiscences  of  the  Civil  War."  But  let  us  bring 
an  object  lesson  nearer  home,  illustrating  the  awfut 
slaughter  of  those  days.  In  this  battle  at  Chickamauga, 
in  the  two  days  of  September  19th  and  20th,  1863,  over 
thirty  thousand  men  were  actually  hit  by  missiles  of  de- 
struction, bullets,  shot,  or  shells.  While  I  am  not  positive 
as  to  your  population,  yet  I  doubt  whether  there  are 
thirty  thousand  men  of  military  age  today  (between 
eighteen  and  forty-five)  in  Beverly,  Marietta,  and  Par- 
kersburg  combined,  and  yet  these  were  the  casualties  of 
one  battle  and  during  two  days  time.  Think  of  every 
man  within  this  territory  being  killed  or  wounded,  and 
you  may  have  a  slight  conception  of  the  extent  of  that 
struggle,  and  what  it  meant  to  those  who  were  engaged 
in  the  armies,  or  whose  friends  were  living  in  constant 
apprehension  at  the  time. 

When  one  dwells  on  this  unparalleled  sacrifice  of  life 
and  its  consequent  and  inevitable  accompaniment  of  grief 
and  sorrow  at  home,  manifested  by  empty  chairs,  the 
broken  household,  the  widowed  wives,  the  orphaned 
children,  to  say  nothing  of  the  ravaged  country,  the 
desolate  fields,  and  destruction  of  property,  the  thought 
is  sure  to  come  to  thoughtful  minds,  was  it  worth  while 
and  could  it  not  have  been  averted,  and  after  all  was  it 
necessary.  With  these  thoughts  prevailing,  we  can  only 
look  farther  to  become  convinced  that  it  was  only  another 
of  the  many  instances  of  the  truth  of  the  old  hymn, 

"God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way 
His  wonders  to  perform." 

I  am  one  of  those  simple  souls  who,  judging  from  re- 
sults, are  led  to  believe  that  through  all  of  this  fearful 

95 


struggle  the  hand  of  a  'Tower  beyond  that  of  man"  was 
constantly  at  work  in  bringing  out  the  final  triumph  of 
the  Union  Army.  It  is  always  a  joy  to  me  to  confess 
my  faith  and  trust  in  that  Power,  and  I  have  been 
greatly  interested  in  tracing  out  many  of  what  seemed  to 
me  to  be  the  most  patent  instances  of  this  kind.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  have  had  many  friends  who  were  on  the 
other  side,  Christian  men,  earnest  believers  in  this  faith, 
to  whom  I  have  put  the  question,  whether,  in  their  experi- 
ence there  ever  seemed  to  them  times  when  there  was  a 
Providential  interference  in  behalf  of  the  Confederacy, 
and  without  an  exception  the  reply  has  been  not  only, 
"No,"  but,  "When  we  did  secure  an  advantage,  it  was 
fleeting  and  our  hopes  were  doomed  to  disappointment." 
It  is  a  subject  full  of  interest,  and  while  it  may  be  claimed 
that  the  results  were  only  coincidents,  or  fortuitous,  yet 
when  such  incidents  are  continually  on  one  side  and  in 
favor  of  one  army,  I  submit  to  any  fair-minded  man, 
an  unprejudiced  judge,  that  it  is  not  fair  to  dismiss  such 
a  claim  as  flippant  or  one  born  from  enthusiasm  in 
one's  professed  belief. 

All  students  of  history  recall  the  shock  to  the  Union 
cause  when  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  resulted  in  a 
complete  rout,  the  great  army  rushing  pell  mell,  panic 
stricken,  into  Washington,  each  man  seeming  to  vie 
with  his  comrade  in  getting  there  first.  I  was  in  Wash- 
ington at  the  time,  and  have  never  witnessed  such  evident 
panic  and  demoralization  as  existed  there  all  day  Mon- 
day. There  seemed  to  be  no  visible  head  or  source  of 
authority.  Had  pursuit  been  made,  I  believe  the  seat  of 
government  would  have  been  in  possession  of  the  enemy. 
Meeting  Gen.  Beauregard  a  few  years  after  the  war,  he 
told  me  he  was  in  command  of  the  Confederate  advance 
line  and  had  ordered  vigorous  pursuit,  as  he  realized  its 
importance,  and  desired  to  embrace  the  opportunity  at 

96 


hand,  but  that  his  orders  were  countermanded  by  Jeffer- 
son Davis,  President,  who  feared,  so  he  stated,  that 
by  pursuit  they  might  lose  the  advantage  already  gained, 
and  so  they  decided  to  remain  where  they  were.  At 
Shiloh  also,  some  months  later,  he  assured  me  his  plans 
and  orders  to  advance  and  attack  the  Union  forces  were 
most  annoyingly  and  provokingly  delayed  for  twenty- 
four  hours,  while  the  death  of  Albert  Sidney  Johnston, 
at  a  most  critical  time,  still  further  embarrassed  him; 
so  that,  although  there  were  several  hours  of  daylight 
yet  on  that  April  afternoon,  after  driving  the  Union 
Army  since  morning,  he  ceased  all  operations  about  five 
o'clock  and  permitted  the  Union  forces  to  be  heavily 
reinforced  by  Gen.  Buell,  believing,  as  he  said,  from 
information  his  scouts  gave  him,  that  Buell  had  gone 
in  another  direction,  and  that  he  was  utterly  surprised 
and  amazed  when  he  was  vigorously  attacked  by  Gen. 
Grant  early  the  next  morning. 

The  death  of  Gen.  Stonewall  Jackson,  probably,  all 
things  considered,  the  most  brilliant  and  dashing  captain 
of  the  Confederate  Army,  was  tragic — slain,  too,  by  his 
own  men  at  the  moment  of  victory  and  at  a  time  when 
the  inspiration  of  his  presence  and  leadership  was  worth 
thousands  of  men  to  their  cause.  A  colonel  commanding 
two  Massachusetts  regiments  states  that  at  Gettysburg,, 
being  without  orders,  he  halted  his  command  at  a  spot 
that  seemed  to  him  a  desirable  one  and  waited.  When 
the  momentous  and  spectacular  charge  of  Picket's  brigade 
was  made  at  Cemetery  Ridge,  which  steadily  advanced 
in  face  of  the  concentrated  fire  of  the  Union  armies, 
slowly  but  persistently,  and  finally  reached  the  summit, 
piercing  our  lines,  the  commander  of  the  leading  brig- 
ade, Gen.  Armstead,  being  killed  at  that  point;  when 
Gen.  Hancock,  knowing  that  seconds  were  more  valuable 
at  that  juncture  than  hours  in  an  ordinary  time,  came 

97 


rushing  forward  to  repel  the  assault,  this  Massachusetts 
brigade  was  quietly  waiting  at  the  right  spot,  and  was 
thrown  into  the  gap  at  once.  The  Confederate  line  was 
repulsed,  and  slowly  and  sullenly  retreated  with  the  rem- 
nant of  those  who  had  started.  It  is  asserted  also  that 
this  charge  had  been  ordered  in  the  forenoon,  and  that 
there  was  an  annoying  and  perplexing  delay,  permitting 
a  reinforcement  of  the  Union  forces  at  that  point.  From 
that  moment  the  cause  of  secession  reached  its  height 
and  the  turn  of  the  tide  began.  I  could  relate  many  more 
instances  in  this  connection,  but  will  not  weary  you; 
but  will  say  here  that  (although  it  may  be  only  a  coin- 
cidence, yet  I  think  it  will  be  borne  out  in  my  statement 
by  any  one  who  will  examine  it)  the  Union  Army  experi- 
enced no  decided,  definite  success  until  after  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  had  been  determined  upon.  The 
turn  in  our  affairs  seemed  at  least  to  begin  with  the  last 
day  of  the  battle  at  Stone  River,  when  the  seeming  defeat 
of  December  31,  1862,  was  changed  into  victory  in  the 
early  days  of  January,  1863.  Then  followed  in  that  year 
Vicksburg,  Gettysburg,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge, 
with  a  steady,  but  continuous,  advance  to  the  end,  which 
culminated  most  gloriously  at  Appomatox. 

It  seems  to  me  that  a  "Power  beyond  ourselves,"  if 
you  will,  has  guided  our  country  from  its  commencement 
as  a  nation  in  1776.  Each  generation  has  been  en- 
gaged in  a  war,  as  witness  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
the  War  of  1812,  the  Mexican  War,  the  Civil  War,  and 
the  Spanish-American  War.  God  grant  that  this  may 
be  the  last,  and  that  our  peace  may  never  be  broken 
again!  God  grant,  too,  that  the  sacrifices  made  in  1861 
to  1865  may  bear  their  full  fruit,  and  that  the  principles 
established  then  and  through  those  sacrifices  may  be  of 
the  "things  that  remain,"  and  that  a  real  love  of  country 
shown  in  all  communities,  by  standing  for  law  and  what 


is  right  may  ever  increase.  I  am  not  pessimistic  as  to 
the  future,  but  believe  that  "God  is  in  his  world,"  and 
that  He  will  in  His  own  way  and  time  work  out  His  own 
plans  through  the  efforts  of  patriotic  people  everywhere. 
If  this  be  so,  and  I  earnestly  believe  it,  then  my  com- 
rades in  whose  memory  I  have  addressed  you  will  not 
have  suffered  and  died  in  vain.  Even  though  they  did 
come  through  great  trials  and  tribulations,  I  believe  they 
are  now  enjoying  their  reward. 


President  Perry:  Our  minds  have  been  thrilled  as 
we  have  heard  the  story  of  the  devotion  of  Marietta 
alumni  in  the  cause  of  the  Union.  There  are  other  fields 
in  which  the  temper  of  the  alumni  of  Marietta  has  been 
shown,  and  we  are  glad  now  to  have  the  story  told  us 
of  those  who  have  shown  themselves  good  soldiers  in  the 
army  of  the  King  of  kings.  Dr.  William  G.  Ballantine, 
of  the  class  of  '68,  will  tell  us  of  Marietta  in  Missions." 

Professor  Ballantine :    Mr.  President,  Fellow  Alumni, 
and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

These  younger  people  cannot  understand  at  all  the 
profound  emotion  with  which  we  older  Marietta  men 
find  ourselves  walking  again  the  streets  of  this  incom- 
parable city.  To  these  younger  people,  much  as  they 
love  it  and  admire  it,  there  is  something  of  the  every- 
day and  commonplace;  to  us  it  is  a  sacred  shrine  to 
which  we  come  back  to  revive  all  the  profoundest  senti- 
ments that  fill  the  human  heart.  We  of  the  olden  time, 
coming  back,  find  everything  improved  in  Marietta,  and 
this  church  is  a  beautiful  example,  where  so  admirably 
the  sentiments  of  the  old  are  retained  with  new  solidity 
and  capaciousness  and  beauty. 

99 


Some  of  us  have  wandered  far  over  the  world  since 
our  college  days,  and  have  seen  famous  universities  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic — have  seen  larger  bodies  of 
students,  ampler  buildings,  more  lavish  equipment,  but 
there  are  some  things  which  we  have  not  seen  surpassed. 
Nowhere  have  we  found  a  nobler  body  of  men  than  those 
that  were  our  guides  when  we  were  in  Marietta,  and 
while  we  admire  and  love  those  who  are  carrying  Mari- 
etta forward  so  nobly  now,  we  say  to  them  without  any 
hesitation :  "Your  noblest  title  is  that  you  are  the  worthy 
successors  of  the  men  who  taught  us."  There  was 
something  about  those  men  of  delicacy,  of  honesty,  of 
refinement,  of  chivalry,  of  promptitude,  of  Christian 
integrity,  and  of  highest  personal  character  that  has  gone 
with  us  through  life,  and  when,  in  moments  of  depression 
and  temptation,  we  have  been  near  yielding,  the  memory 
of  those  men  has  been  our  strongest  stay. 


100 


MARIETTA  IN  MISSIONS. 
By  Professor  William  G.  Ballantine,  '68. 


Marietta  College  has  stood  from  the  first  for  the 
highest  sentiments  of  this  community.  The  men  who 
came  on  the  second  Mayflower  to  begin  the  settlement  of 
the  Northwest  were,  above  all  things,  patriots.  Their 
thoughts  were  chiefly  upon  the  principles  and  methods 
of  free  government.  They  were — 

"Skilled  by  Freedom  and  by  great  events 
To  pitch  new  states  as  Old- World  men  pitch  tents." 

The  development  of  the  Northwest  was  a  vast  and  en- 
grossing enterprise,  calling  for  endurance,  courage,  and 
every  form  of  civic  virtue. 

Naturally,  from  such  beginnings,  the  distinguishing 
characteristics  of  the  men  who  have  gone  out  from  Mari- 
etta College  have  been  intense  patriotism  and  devotion  to 
the  maintenance  of  free  and  just  government.  Reflect 
how  large  and  glorious  a  part  the  comparatively  small 
body  of  Marietta  men  took  in  the  war  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Union.  But  this  Marietta  patriotism  had 
about  it  nothing  of  selfish  provincialism  or  geographical 
narrowness.  From  the  very  nature  of  its  origin  it  could 
not  have.  It  sprang  from  the  broadest  general  principles. 
It  was  based  upon  the  profoundest  convictions  of  the 
dignity  of  human  nature  and  the  natural  rights  of  man. 
Nothing  human  was  foreign  to  the  pioneers  of  this  city 
and  this  College.  Such  patriotism  is  in  essence  world 
patriotism.  Growing  out  of  love  to  God  and  man,  it 
takes  in,  in  its  solicitude  and  sympathy  and  its  plans  of 

101 


beneficence,  the  whole  world  and  the  whole  human  race. 
Less  broadminded  men  would  have  said  that  there  was 
work  enough  to  be  done  and  problems  enough  to  be 
solved  on  this  great  new  continent.  But  with  such  prin- 
ciples, it  was  inevitable  that  men  from  Marietta  should 
early  begin  to  go  forth  into  the  distant  and  dark  corners 
of  the  heathen  world  with  the  good  news  of  salvation. 
Paul's  consciousness,  "  I  am  a  debtor,"  springs  from  the 
very  heart  of  Christianity.  Thrilled  with  the  unutterable 
joy  of  freedom  and  hope  and  victory,  the  man  cannot 
keep  it  to  himself  while  others  languish  in  darkness 
and  bondage. 

I  have  been  at  some  pains  to  make  a  roster  of  those 
who  have  represented  Marietta  on  mission  fields,  but  it 
is  probably  not  complete,  and  I  shall  be  grateful  for  any 
help  in  completing  it. 

Marietta  Missionaries. 

'40,  John  Fawcett  Pogue,  Hawaiian  Islands. 
'45,  Ira  Mills  Preston,  Gaboon,  Africa. 
'49,  Nathaniel  H.   Pierce,  North  American  Indians. 
'53,  Jackson  Green  Coffing,  Turkey   (assassinated). 
'56,  John  Haskell  Shedd,  Persia. 
'57  John      Poage     Williamson,      North     American 
Indians. 

'58,  Charles  Alfred  Stanley,  China. 

'59,  Andrew  Jackson  McKim,  Peru  and  Mexico. 

'67,  William  Levi  Whipple,  Persia. 

'78,  William  E.  Fay,  Africa. 

'87,  Edward  Bell  Haskell,  Bulgaria. 

'87,  William  A.  Shedd,  Urumia,  Persia. 

'88,  Benjamin  Woods  Labaree,  Persia   (murdered). 

'88,  Robert  M.  Labaree,  Persia. 

'93,  John  Morgan  Lewis,  Hawaiian  Islands. 

'94,  John  Ellis  Williams,  China. 

102 


'95,  Edward  Marsden,  Alaska. 

'95,  Robert  A.  Brown,  Coyoacan,  Mexico. 

'97,  Amanda  L.  Andrews  (Mrs.  Walker),  Japan. 

'00,  John  L.  Hopwood,  Honolulu. 

'01,  Charles  A.  Stanley  and  Mrs.  Louise  C.  Hath- 
away Stanley,  China. 

'03,  Glen  Edwards,  Porto  Rico. 

Thus  has  Marietta  been  represented  upon  the  con- 
tinents of  North  and  South  America,  in  Europe,  in  Asia 
and  Africa,  and  in  the  islands  of  the  sea.  Her  sons  have 
faced  ancient  civilizations  and  primitive  savagery,  be- 
sotted indifference  and  murderous  fanaticism. 

The  going  forth  of  missionaries  is  a  common  occur- 
rence, and  draws  little  attention.  They  do  not  march 
as  soldiers  do  with  glittering  uniforms,  waving  flags  and 
beating  drums.  And  when  they  come  back,  it  is  likely 
to  be  as  broken  men,  with  nothing  to  show  in  the  way  of 
wealth  or  fame.  But  it  was  a  most  fitting  arrangement 
that  upon  this  memorial  occasion,  after  our  tribute  to 
the  heroes  of  the  battle  field,  we  should  reverentially 
salute  the  names  of  our  soldiers  of  the  cross.  There  is 
no  part  of  Marietta's  history  to  which  she  turns  with 
more  real,  though  solemn,  pride  than  to  the  work  of 
those  of  her  sons  and  her  daughters  who,  turning  their 
backs  upon  all  that  to  most  men  makes  life  worth  living, 
— home,  relatives,  congenial  friends,  native  land,  prot- 
ection of  law,  the  delights  of  civilization, — forsaking  all 
these  have  found  satisfaction  for  their  souls  where  Jesus 
found  his — not  in  being  ministered  unto,  but  in  min- 
istering and  in  giving  life  itself  as  a  ransom  for  many. 
Two  at  least  of  these  missionaries  actually  shed  their 
blood  and  died  true  soldiers'  deaths.  This  sublime  exhi- 
bition of  Christian  devotion  has  not  exhausted  its  gra- 
cious effects  in  those  distant  lands,  but  has  reacted  upon 

103 


Marietta  herself  in  a  priceless  elevation  of  sentiment,  and 
it  has  made  this  a  holier  place  of  education  for  every 
student. 

There  is  an  especial  appropriateness  in  reviewing 
Marietta's  share  in  foreign  missions  at  this  time,  since 
this  year  of  1910  and  this  very  month  of  June  completes 
the  first  century  of  American  missions,  and  the  fact  is 
to  be  commemorated  with  impressive  meetings  in  Boston 
during  the  coming  autumn.  The  year  has  already  been 
signalized  by  remarkable  meetings.  The  current  num- 
ber of  the  Missionary  Herald  says:  "Two  missionary 
gatherings  of  unparalleled  magnitude  stand  out  as  the 
leading  religious  features  of  this  year — the  Student  Vol- 
unteer Convention,  at  Rochester,  in  January,  and  the 
National  Congress  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
ment, in  Chicago,  May  3-6.  The  one  was  the  counter- 
part of  the  other.  At  Rochester  thousands  of  young 
men  and  women  offered  their  lives  for  service  in  the 
foreign  field.  At  Chicago  the  laymen  came  forward  as 
a  mighty  supporting  host." 

Furthermore,  during  these  very  days  of  our  celebra- 
tion here,  there  is  in  session  in  Edinburgh  the  World's 
Missionary  Conference,  the  most  imposing  missionary 
assembly  ever  convened.  At  last  Christians  have  ceased 
"playing  at  missions,"  and  have  grappled  with  their  task 
in  earnest.  Every  Protestant  body  now  has  missions. 
Upon  this  work  the  sum  of  $30,000,000  is  annually 
expended.  More  than  20,000  missionaries  are  actively 
engaged,  and  they  are  assisted  by  tens  of  thousands  of 
native  helpers.  More  than  2,000,000  communicants  are 
on  the  rolls  of  the  churches.  There  are  30,000  schools 
and  100  institutions  of  higher  learning,  in  which  a 
million  and  a  half  of  students  and  scholars  are  receiving 
Christian  education.  Four  hundred  hospitals  and  800 
medical  missionaries  look  after  the  needs  of  the  sick 
and  continue  the  healing  ministry  of  Jesus. 

104 


These  stupendous  achievements  of  missions  elate  the 
Christian  heart  with  assurance  of  the  speedy  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world.  They  silence  the  criticisms  of  igno- 
rance and  shame  the  sneers  of  skeptics.  When  our  great 
and  trusted  national  leaders,  like  William  Jennings 
Bryan,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  and  William  Howard  Taft, 
travel  around  the  world,  they  bring  home  nothing  but 
words  of  praise  for  what  their  own  eyes  have  seen  of 
the  benign  influence  of  Christian  missions  in  darkened 
lands. 

To  thinkers  and  students  of  history  it  is  a  profound 
satisfaction  that  this  world-expansion  of  Christianity  in 
our  day  has  been  accompanied  with  the  same  sort  of 
philosophical  feeling  and  spiritualizing  that  accompanied 
the  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  first  generation  from 
Jerusalem  to  Rome.  Christianity,  to  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty  whose  names  were  on  that  first  church  roll 
in  that  upper  room  in  Jerusalem,  was  simply  completed 
and  glorified  and  victorious  Judaism.  But  the  Chris- 
tianity that  Paul  carried  from  Troas  into  Europe,  and 
later  to  Rome,  had  dropped  one  by  one  its  Judaistic  lim- 
itations as  a  tree  drops  its  bud  scales  in  the  spring.  It 
had  become  a  world  religion, — that  is,  a  religion  adequate 
for  the  world  that  then  was,  the  orbis  terrarum  antiquis 
notus,  though  not  yet  adequate  for  the  globe  as  we  know 
it  today.  The  conception  of  Christianity,  in  just  the 
form  that  it  had  in  the  minds  of  those  one  hundred  and 
twenty  in  Jerusalem,  never  could  have  conquered  the 
Roman  Empire.  That  enlargement  cost  many  an  agoniz- 
ing struggle,  many  painful  doubts,  many  dark  suspicions 
and  personal  alienations  and  much  heated  debate,  but 
the  necessity  was  inexorable.  Those  were  the  birth 
throes  of  a  grander  and  more  spiritual  religion  than 
man  had  previously  known. 

105 


Just  so  in  this  most  diffusive  of  all  the  Christian 
centuries,  we  have  in  the  very  act,  and  largely  because 
of  the  act  of  diffusing  Christianity,  changed  our  concep- 
tions of  the  thing  itself.  It  has  seemed  an  astounding 
phenomenon  to  be  ourselves  reconstructing  our  ideas  of 
that  which  we  were  so  eager  to  teach  to  others.  Some 
have  cried  out  frantically  that  any  reconstruction  of 
Christian  doctrine  would  "cut  the  nerve  of  missions." 
Yet  the  work  of  restatement  has  gone  on  and  will  go  on. 
In  fact,  the  most  astonishing  of  all  things  is  the  definite 
abandonment  of  the  expectation  of  ever  reading  a  dog- 
matic statement  "once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints." 
Nowhere  has  this  new  conception  of  Christian  theology 
found  more  eloquent  and  forceful  expression  than  in  that 
remarkable  address  by  a  distinguished  alumnus  of  Mari- 
etta College  at  the  third  International  Congregational 
Council  in  Edinburgh  two  years  ago.  I  refer  to  the 
paper  read  by  Professor  Edward  Caldwell  Moore  on, 
"The  Effect  of  Comparative  Study  of  Religions  upon 
Theology."  He  had  then  just  returned  from  a  careful 
official  inspection  of  missions  in  China  as  a  representative 
of  our  oldest  missionary  board. 

Our  first  American  foreign  missionaries,  Adoniram 
Judson  and  his  associates,  carried  abroad  with  them  a 
hard  and  fast  creed.  They  were  men  feverishly  interested 
in  such  questions  of  external  detail  as  the  mode  of  bap- 
tism. The  missionary  of  today  goes  simply  to  communi- 
cate spiritual  life,  and  to  let  the  forms  and  dogmas  shape 
themselves.  He  recognizes  clearly  the  full  meaning  of 
St.  Paul's  words  that,  "Whether  there  be  knowledge,  it 
shall  vanish  away."  It  marks  an  epoch  not  only  in 
missions,  but  in  the  world  of  Christian  thought  when 
such  words  as  those  of  Professor  Moore  are  accepted  in 
a  great  assembly  of  trained  theologians.  He  said: 
"There  is,  therefore,  something  sublime  in  the  faith  of 

106 


a  missionary  as  he  goes  among  men  and  takes,  in  simple 
courage  and  good  cheer,  the  belief  which  he  has,  the 
character  which  he  is,  the  spirit  which  Christ  has  enabled 
him  to  show,  and  yet  trust  that  God  will  make  all  but 
the  true  life  of  his  religion  to  rot  as  the  mere  body  of 
it,  but  will  yet  also  make  that  life  to  prevail  among  his 
fellows  over  whom  he  yearns,  and  in  them  and  in  the 
world  to  have  what  body  God  shall  please." 

There  is  another  sublime  enlargement  of  which  it  is 
impossible  to  speak  adequately,  but  which  comes  to 
every  one  of  us  with  a  clarion  call  to  personal  consecra- 
tion and  daily  service.  There  was  a  time  when  the  mis- 
sionary went,  by  weeks  or  months  of  travel,  far  off 
among  unknown  millions  and  placed  himself  like  a  little 
glow  worm  in  a  great  dark  meadow  (if  I  may  use  a 
figure  of  Lyman  Abbott),  and  he  was  our  only  point 
of  relation  to  that  remote  realm  of  gloom.  His  work 
was  conceived  to  be,  according  to  a  favorite  phrase  of 
those  days,  "carrying  the  news  of  an  atoning  Savior"; 
that  is,  it  was  the  communication  of  a  small  stock  of 
theological  propositions,  and  its  principal  motive  was 
thought  to  be  the  saving  of  those  people  from  hell  in  the 
world  to  come.  Of  course,  in  reality,  it  was  much  more 
than  that,  but  so  it  was  conceived.  Now  all  nations, 
even  the  so-called  "hermit  nations,"  are  close  neighbors. 
Immense  steamships,  transporting  thousands  at  a  time, 
mingle  the  populations  of  all  lands,  not  only  the  wealthy, 
but  still  more  the  laborers.  Thousands  of  foreigners, 
educated  and  uneducated,  come  and  live  awhile  in  Amer- 
ica and  then  scatter  back  all  over  the  globe,  telling  of 
our  institutions,  our  social  life,  and  our  religion.  Mis- 
sions have  now  come  to  be  but  a  small  part  of  the  great 
friendly  interchange  of  all  ideas  and  all  commodities 
among  all  men.  Mission  work  blends  indistiguishably 
into  the  great  secular  activities.  All  transportation,  all 

107 


mail  service,  all  literature,  all  education,  all  commerce, 
are  but  parts  of  the  brotherhood  life  of  mankind. 

The  United  States,  with  magnanimity  unprecedented, 
returned  to  China  the  balance  of  an  excessive  indemnity. 
China,  with  an  enlightenment  unprecedented,  has  de- 
voted that  fund  to  the  education  of  scores  of  her  brightest 
youth  in  America.  Is  the  education  of  these  young 
Chinamen  in  American  ideas  missionary  work  or  sec- 
ular work? 

An  American  missionary,  an  Ohio  boy,  went  lately 
to  India,  and  seeing  the  poverty  of  the  people  set  himself 
to  invent  a  better  loom  in  that  land  where  there  has 
been  no  improvement  in  looms  in  a  thousand  years. 
No  one  can  compute  the  benefits  of  that  new  loom. 
Was  that  missionary  work  or  industrial  work? 

The  truth  is,  that  we  are  all  coming  to  see  and 
understand  those  glorious  conceptions  which  Canon  Fre- 
mantle  set  forth  years  ago  in  his  famous  work,  "The 
World  as  the  Subject  of  Redemption."  The  race  is  one. 
All  parts  of  life  make  up  but  one  whole.  All  life  is 
sacred.  All  honest  work  is  religious  service.  As  we 
have  blended  in  philosophy  the  conceptions  of  the  natural 
and  the  supernatural,  so  in  life  we  have  obliterated  the 
supposed  boundary  between  the  secular  and  the  holy. 
There  is  no  more  any  profane  history.  Every  man  who 
cuts  a  thistle  and  plants  a  rose,  literally  or  figuratively, 
hastens  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth.  Every  one 
of  us  needs  the  spirit  of  a  missionary.  Every  one  of  us 
is  in  contact  with  men  who,  in  a  few  days,  will  be  at 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  carrying  impressions  received  from 
what  we  say  and  do  today.  Every  one  of  us  may  live 
and  should  live  as  a  conscious  worker  in  the  establish- 
ment of  that  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth  which  is  the 
ultimate  ideal  of  all  missions  and  the  answer  of  the 
prayer  our  Saviour  taught. 

108 


President  Perry :  One  name  has  been  mentioned  in 
this  paper,  and  I  cannot  forbear  referring  to  the  fact 
that  Dr.  Charles  A.  Stanley,  of  the  class  of  '58,  who  came 
all  the  way  from  China  to  attend  this  anniversary,  was 
only  a  few  days  ago  stricken  in  this  city  with  serious  heart 
trouble,  and  tonight  lies  weak  and  feeble  and  unable 
to  enjoy  anything  of  these  anniversary  exercises,  to  which 
he  had  looked  forward  so  longingly.  Is  it  not  fitting  that 
we,  before  we  go  tonight,  should  rise  and  offer  a  word 
of  prayer  in  his  behalf? 

(Audience  rising.)  O  Lord,  our  Savior  and  our 
King,  we  thank  Thee  for  the  many  years  of  service  of 
this  Thy  servant  in  the  post  to  which  Thou  didst  call  him. 
And  now  we  pray  that  Thy  Spirit  may  sustain  him  in 
these  hours  of  disappointment  and  physical  weakness. 
Restore  him,  we  beseech  Thee,  to  strength  and  health  and 
to  his  work  which  he  is  longing  to  take  up  again,  and 
grant  unto  him  Thy  peace  in  his  soul. 

And  now,  may  grace,  mercy,  and  peace  from  God 
the  Father  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  us  all. 
Amen. 


109 


WEDNESDAY  MORNING,  JUNE  15 

ANNIVERSARY   SERVICE,   CONGREGATIONAL 
CHURCH. 


President  Perry  presided.  In  opening  the  meeting, 
he  said :  Marietta  College  welcomes  home  all  her  alumni 
and  her  friends  on  this  seventy-fifth  anniversary  occasion. 

The  Scripture  lesson  will  be  read  by  the  Rev.  Charles 
Little,  of  the  class  of  '67,  Moderator  of  the  Presbyterian 
General  Assembly,  who  will  also  lead  us  in  prayer. 

Dr.  Little:  Some  selections  from  the  Psalms  have 
been  handed  me  which  are  appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

Give  ear,  O  my  people,  to  my  law: 

Incline  your  ears  to  the  words  of  my  mouth. 

I  will  open  my  mouth  in  a  parable;  I  will  utter  dark 
sayings  of  old; 

Which  we  have  heard  and  known,  and  our  fathers 
have  told  us. 

We  will  not  hide  them  from  their  children,  telling 
to  the  generation  to  come  the  praise  of  the  Lord. 

And  his  strength,  and  his  wondrous  works  that  he 
hath  done. 

For  he  establisheth  a  testimony  in  Jacob,  and  ap- 
pointed a  law  in  Israel,  which  he  commanded  our  fathers, 
that  they  should  make  them  known  to  their  children : 

That  the  generation  to  come  might  know  them,  even 
the  children  which  should  be  born:  Who  should  arise 
and  tell  them  to  their  children: 

110 


That  they  might  set  their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget 
the  works  of  God,  but  keep  his  commandments. — 
Ps.  78 :  1-7. 

Our  fathers  trusted  in  thee;  they  trusted  and  thou 
didst  deliver  them. 

They  cried  unto  thee,  and  were  delivered:  They 
trusted  in  thee  and  were  not  ashamed. — Ps.  22  :  4,  5. 

We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  O  God,  our  fathers 
have  told  us, 

What  work  thou  didst  in  their  days,  in  the  days 
of  old. 

Thou  didst  drive  out  the  nations  with  thy  hands,  and 
plantedst  them  in ;  thou  didst  afflict  the  peoples,  and  didst 
spread  them  abroad. 

For  they  gat  not  the  land  in  possession  by  their  own 
sword, 

Neither  did  their  own  arm  save  them;  but  thy  right 
hand,  and  thine  arm,  and  the  light  of  thy  countenance, 
because  thou  hadst  a  favor  unto  them. 

Thou  art  my  King,  O  God: 

Command  deliverance  for  Jacob. 

Through  thee  will  we  push  down  our  adversaries: 

Through  thy  name  will  we  tread  them  under  that 
rise  up  against  us. 

For  I  will  not  trust  in  my  bow,  neither  shall  my  sword 
save  me. 

But  thou  hast  saved  us  from  our  adversaries,  and  hast 
put  them  to  shame  that  hate  us. 

In  God  have  we  made  our  boast  all  the  day  long. 

And  we  will  give  thanks  unto  thy  name  for  ever. — 
Ps.  44 : 1-8. 

Ill 


Let  us  bow  our  heads  in  prayer: 

O  Lord,  our  God,  Thou  art  a  dwelling  place  in  all 
generations.  Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth 
or  ever  Thy  hands  formed  the  earth,  even  from  ever- 
lasting to  everlasting,  Thou  art  God.  For  a  thousand 
years  in  Thy  sight  are  but  as  yesterday,  and  a  single 
day  as  a  thousand  years,  and  we  are  creatures  of  today 
and  tomorrow  we  pass  away.  All  that  we  are  and  have 
Thou  hast  given  us.  Thou  hast  made  us  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels,  and  so  we  come  asking  what  we  can 
do,  and  asking  Thy  help  as  we  listen  lovingly  to  the 
story  of  seventy-five  years. 

May  we  be  glad  in  all  men  who  have  laid  such  foun- 
dations as  give  us  great  security  and  great  hope  now, 
and  may  we  in  this  generation  make  such  history  that 
when  another  jubilee  occasion  comes,  we  may  look  back 
to  this  hour  as  we  look  back  to  that  other  hour  and  praise 
God  and  take  courage. 

Send  Thy  blessing  upon  all  the  services  of  this  day; 
upon  those  who  speak  to  us  from  other  cities  and  from 
our  own  city ;  upon  the  distinguished  guest  whose  coming 
we  are  anticipating,  the  President  of  these  United  States. 
We  rejoice  in  his  sense  of  justice  and  righteousness  and  in 
his  love  for  the  truth  and  in  his  large  view  of  duty.  We 
pray  that  his  administration  may  become  more  and  more 
illustrious,  that  his  cabinet  counsellors  may  be  true  men, 
and  may  Congress  in  both  houses  in  these  closing  days 
of  this  session  find  that  the  greatest  devotion  to  country 
can  lift  men  above  prejudice  and  mere  party  dictation. 

Bless  us  all  in  every  way.  We  confess  our  sins.  We 
thank  Thee  for  Thy  mercies,  and  ask  all  of  our  petitions 
and  offer  all  of  our  praise  and  prayers  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  our  Lord.  Amen. 


112 


THE  OLD  FIRST  CHURCH 


THE  NEW  FIRST  CHURCH 
Where  Commencements  Have  Always  Been  Held 


HISTORICAL  SURVEY. 
By  President  Alfred  T.  Perry. 


It  is,  of  course,  impossible  in  the  brief  compass  of  a 
short  address  to  review,  with  any  detail,  the  interesting 
history  of  this  College  during  the  past  seventy-five  years. 
We  can  only  hope  to  touch  upon  a  few  salient  features 
of  that  history  and  endeavor  to  catch  something  of  the 
spirit  that  animates  those  who  wrought  so  nobly  in  the 
years  that  are  gone.  On  February  14,  1835,  the  Legis- 
lature of  Ohio  passed  a  bill  incorporating  Marietta  Col- 
lege and  giving  to  it  full  college  powers.  It  is  that  act 
we  celebrate  today.  We  do  not  forget,  however,  that 
this  was  not  the  beginning  of  higher  education  in  Mari- 
etta. Let  us  review  briefly  this  familiar  history.  The 
Marietta  pioneers  who  formed  the  Ohio  Company  of 
Associates  being  New  Englanders  were  staunch  believers 
in  education.  So,  in  purchasing  their  land  from  the  gov- 
ernment, they  secured  the  gift  of  certain  sections  in  each 
township  for  school  purposes  and  a  further  grant  of  two 
townships  for  a  university.  An  elementary  school  they 
started  in  the  old  fort  during  their  first  winter.  Next 
they  must  have  a  high  school. 

In  1787,  only  two  years  after  the  close  of  the  Indian 
War  which,  for  the  preceding  five  years,  had  vexed  the 
little  settlement,  a  group  of  its  citizens  met  and  organ- 
ized the  Muskingum  Academy,  and  subscribed  money 
to  erect  a  building.  This  was  opened  for  instruction  in 
the  fall  of  1800,  and  David  Putnam,  a  grandson  of  Gen. 
Israel  Putnam  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  the  class  of 

113 


1793,  became  the  first  preceptor.  Since  the  aim  was  to 
establish  a  college  preparatory  school,  Greek  and  Latin 
were  from  the  first  included  in  the  curriculum.  This 
Muskingum  Academy  has  the  distinction  of  being  the 
first  institution  in  all  the  territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio 
to  give  instruction  in  the  classics.  We  may  rightfully 
claim,  therefore,  that  on  the  lot  adjoining  this  church 
on  the  north  higher  education  in  all  this  great  West 
had  its  beginning.  It  is  surely  proper  to  celebrate  this 
event  in  a  signal  manner,  as  we  do  today,  when  we 
consider  how  much  higher  education  has  meant  to  this 
region,  and  the  wonderful  development  of  institutions, 
high  schools,  academies,  colleges,  universities  which  have 
sprung  up  since  that  early  time.  Not  satisfied  with  a 
preparatory  course,  these  ambitious  pilgrims  began  to 
plan  for  their  university.  In  1804,  a  charter  was  obtained 
for  this,  and  it  was  located  near  the  center  of  their  pur- 
chase. With  classical  instinct,  they  named  the  place 
Athens.  When,  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  the  region 
had  so  developed  that  it  seemed  as  if  Ohio  University 
was  not  meeting  all  the  educational  needs  of  this  region, 
the  same  spirit  in  the  sons  of  the  pioneers  led  them  to 
establish  the  college  here.  The  Muskingum  Academy  had 
been  leased  each  year  to  various  individuals  who  served 
as  principals.  In  addition  there  were  for  longer  or 
shorter  terms  various  private  schools  that  gave  instruction 
of  college  preparatory  grade.  In  1830,  Rev.  Luther  G. 
Bingham,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church,  launched 
a  more  elaborate  educational  enterprise,  which  he  called 
the  "Institute  of  Education,"  with  four  departments, 
the  two  higher  being  known  as  the  High  School  and  the 
Ladies'  Seminary.  For  a  time  the  high  school  occupied 
the  old  Muskingum  Academy.  Mr.  Bingham  was  the 
proprietor  of  these  schools,  but  engaged  various  teachers 
to  give  the  instruction.  In  April,  1831,  one  of  these, 

114 


Mr.  Mansfield  French,  became  associated  with  him  in 
the  ownership,  and  in  1832  they  began  the  erection  of 
the  building  removed  in  1905,  which  is  best  known  as 
the  "Old  Dorm."  This  educational  enterprise  proved 
so  successful  from  the  point  of  view  of  numbers  that  it 
evidently  outgrew  the  resources  of  these  founders.  In 
March,  1832,  an  advisory  board  of  trust  was  organized, 
consisting  of  some  of  the  leading  men  of  the  city.  In  the 
fall  of  the  same  year,  a  bill  was  passed  by  the  legislature, 
incorporating  the  "Marietta  Collegiate  Institute  and 
Western  Teachers'  Seminary."  The  nine  incorporators 
were  Luther  G.  Bingham,  John  Cotton,  Caleb  Emerson, 
John  Mills,  John  Crawford,  Arius  Nye,  Douglas  Putnam, 
Jonas  Moore,  and  Anselm  T.  Nye.  These  men  organized 
on  January  16,  1833,  and  purchased  the  property  of 
Messrs.  Bingham  and  French,  and  in  the  fall  opened  the 
institution  in  the  new  building,  then  completed,  with 
classes  in  college  studies.  The  charter  of  1832  not  being 
entirely  satisfactory,  a  new  one  was  secured  by  the  same 
trustees,  giving  enlarged  powers  and  changing  the  name 
to  Marietta  College.  But  neither  organization  nor 
curriculum  was  altered.  Indeed,  in  the  resolution  ac- 
cepting the  charter  of  1835,  it  was  voted  "that  all  by- 
laws, resolutions,  and  proceedings  of  the  trustees  under 
the  late  charter  and  which  remained  in  force  at  the 
time  of  its  repeal,  be  continued  and  adopted  by  the  board 
in  their  present  capacity  as  trustees  of  Marietta  College." 
They  proceeded  to  elect  the  same  officers,  and  did  not 
even  change  their  books  for  minutes. 

Thus  from  step  to  step  these  men  were  led  until  they 
had  founded  a  new  college  in  this  historic  town.  They 
were  young  men,  with  scanty  resources.  Their  first 
subscription  of  $1500.00  showed  a  high  degree  of  con- 
secration. They  felt  that  they  were  doing  a  Christian 
duty,  and  in  their  annual  report  issued  in  September, 

115 


1835,  they  say:  "The  honor  of  originating  Marietta 
College  is  not  claimed  by  the  board  of  trust;  its  ex- 
istence cannot  properly  be  ascribed  to  them  or  to  any 
combination  of  individuals,  but  to  the  leadings  of  Divine 
Providence."  President  Smith  once  fittingly  characterized 
the  inception  of  this  undertaking  as  "the  recklessness  of 
youth,  but  the  wisdom  of  God." 

As  we  review  the  work  of  those  early  years,  we  are 
impressed  with  the  devotion  and  faith  and  the  wide  vision 
of  those  first  trustees.  They  not  only  gave  liberally  of 
their  money,  but  they  gave  freely  of  their  thought  and 
time  as  well.  The  board  held  thirty-four  meetings 
the  first  year,  twenty-five  the  second,  and  thirty-three 
the  third;  that  is,  they  met  nearly  every  week  during  the 
college  year.  They  worked  for  the  future;  they  were 
raising  the  funds,  employing  agents  for  that  purpose 
during  all  the  early  years.  They  bought  additional  land ; 
they  planned  for  new  buildings,  were  prompt  to  take 
advantage  of  opportunities  for  increasing  the  equipment. 
They  showed,  too,  great  sagacity  and  courage.  More 
than  once,  in  the  days  of  pinching  poverty,  gifts  were 
declined  because  of  hampering  conditions.  They  had 
great  ambitions  to  make  their  new  college  the  equal  of 
any.  In  February,  1833,  when  the  board  first  took  over 
the  property  from  Messrs.  Bingham  and  French,  they 
organized  four  departments,  one  the  Collegiate,  in  which 
they  affirm,  "although  regular  degrees  cannot  be  con- 
ferred, it  is  intended  to  give  as  extensive  and  thorough 
a  course  of  education  as  is  afforded  in  the  best  colleges 
in  the  Western  country,"  and,  further,  they  resolved, 
"That  the  course  of  study,  in  the  Female  Department 
and  the  general  government  of  the  same  be  such  as  are 
now  introduced  in  the  best  female  academies  in  our  land." 

Still  more  striking  as  an  illustration  of  their  large- 
ness of  view  is  their  granting  to  Professor  Smith  a 

116 


leave  of  absence  with  salary  from  July  1,  1835,  to  Novem- 
ber 1,  1836,  a  year  and  a  half,  in  order  to  go  to  Europe, 
and  he  was  also  given  a  special  commission  to  buy  books 
for  the  library.  This  trip  was  actually  taken  the  follow- 
ing year.  The  breadth  of  their  Christian  charity  is  quite 
notable.  In  their  first  published  statement  in  August, 
1833,  they  affirm,  "The  board  wish  it  to  be  distinctly 
understood  that  the  essential  doctrines  and  duties  of 
the  Christian  religion  will  be  assiduously  inculcated,  but 
no  sectarian  peculiarities  of  belief  will  be  taught."  When 
Professor  Jewett  resigned  in  1838  because  he  had  become 
a  Baptist,  the  board  adopted  the  report  of  a  committee 
of  conference,  which  declared,  "The  mere  fact  of  a  change 
in  church  relation  does  not,  in  the  opinion  of  the  com- 
mittee, involve  the  necessity  of  a  resignation  in  the  case 
of  an  officer  of  the  institution."  Two  years  later  they 
elected  Professor  Kendrick,  who  was  an  Episcopalian. 
This  attitude  has  been  maintained  to  the  present  time. 
Marietta  College  rejoices  to  stand  on  a  positive  Christian 
platform,  but  unbounded  by  any  sectarian  limitations. 
Five  denominations  are  today  represented  in  its  Board 
of  Trustees  and  four  in  its  faculty.  Thus  largely  and 
generously  and  with  sincere  Christian  consecration  did 
these  young  men  of  Marietta  lay  the  foundation  of  this 
institution  as  their  fathers  had  laid  the  foundations  of 
city  and  state,  as  their  grandfathers  had  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  republic. 

Emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  these  early  years  because 
they  were  the  first,  and  because  they  really  established 
the  character  of  this  College  and  gave  to  it  its  ideals. 
The  reason  why  Marietta  has  always  been  a  Christian 
college  and  one  renowned  for  high  scholarship  is  found 
in  the  acts  of  these  first  trustees. 

A  very  remarkable  degree  of  permanence  in  these 
respects  has  been  given  by  the  long  service  of  some  indi- 

117 


viduals  of  that  early  group.  Of  the  incorporators  of 
Marietta  College,  two  who  had  served  as  trustees  of 
the  Institute  never  seem  to  have  really  qualified  as  trustees 
under  the  new  charter,  namely,  John  Crawford  and  Arius 
Nye.  Of  the  remainder,  Luther  Bingham  served  thirteen 
years,  counting  from  1832;  John  Cotton,  fifteen;  Caleb 
Emerson,  twenty-one;  Jonas  Moore,  twenty-four; 
Anselm  T.  Nye,  forty-nine;  John  Mills,  fifty,  the  first 
fifteen  as  treasurer,  while  Douglas  Putnam  was  secretary 
of  the  board  from  the  first  meeting  to  1894,  a  period 
of  sixty-two  years.  The  first  trustee  to  be  elected,  Ad- 
dison  Kingsbury,  served  from  1838  to  1892,  or  fifty-four 
years.  So  also  with  the  professors.  President  Smith 
was  the  first  teacher  chosen  by  the  board  in  1832.  He 
served  the  College  twenty- three  years  until  1855.  Pro- 
fessor Kendrick  served  from  1840  to  1889,  forty-nine 
years ;  while  President  Andrews'  term  of  service  extended 
from  1838  to  1888,  a  full  half  century.  Three  of  our 
present  faculty  served  under  President  Andrews,  while 
eleven  of  our  present  trustees  were  his  pupils.  Through 
these  individuals  the  spirit  and  ideals  of  the  early  days 
were  projected  far  down  in  the  history  of  the  College, 
and  thus  we  of  today  have  been  inspired  with  their  devo- 
tion, and  courage,  and  faith.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that 
this  College  has  had  but  two  secretaries  of  its  trustees, 
Douglas  Putnam  being  succeeded  in  1894  by  the  present 
secretary,  Mr.  W.  W.  Mills,  who  had  already  at  that 
time  served  six  years  on  the  board,  and  who  was  himself 
a  son  of  the  first  treasurer. 

One  feature  of  the  early  years  did  not  prove  successful 
enough  to  survive.  At  the  beginning,  a  manual  training 
department  was  organized,  with  a  threefold,  purpose: 
first,  to  assist  students  in  paying  their  way  through  Col- 
lege ;  second,  to  train  them  in  business  habits ;  third,  and 
chiefly,  that  the  students  might  have  suitable  physical 

118 


exercise.  In  that  day  when  gymnasium  and  athletic  fields 
were  unknown  there  was  danger  to  health  unless  students 
could  find  some  form  of  physical  relaxation.  A  farm  of 
sixty  acres  and  a  shop  for  those  of  mechanical  turn  were 
provided,  in  which  students  were  to  spend  three  hours  a 
day,  and  even  the  professors  were  urged  to  enter  the 
plan.  Accounts  of  the  purchase  of  a  brick-making  ma- 
chine and  of  certain  wood-working  machines,  as  well  as 
advertisements  of  staves  and  bedsteads,  give  a  hint  of 
the  work  attempted.  The  request  of  some  students,  in 
1841,  for  permission  to  use  College  land  for  horticul- 
tural purposes  may  indicate  enthusiasm  for  botany  quite 
as  much  as  for  gardening.  The  manual  training  evidently 
did  not  realize  expectations,  for  Messrs.  Adams  and  Post, 
who  had  charge  of  the  shop,  asked  to  be  relieved  of  their 
contract  in  1838,  and  the  department  seems  to  have  been 
discontinued  by  1841.  The  elaborate  arrangements  for 
the  raising  and  disbursement  of  a  charitable  fund,  the 
gifts  of  clothing  received  from  various  Eastern  cities, 
the  gift  of  three  hundred  text-books  from  the  students  of 
Amherst  College,  in  1834,  which  were  loaned  to  the  stu- 
dents, all  testify  to  the  poverty  of  many  of  those  who* 
came  here  to  study.  The  Female  Seminary,  which  was 
one  of  the  departments  of  the  Collegiate  Institute,  re^ 
mained  as  a  part  of  the  College  for  many  years,  when 
it  was  disposed  of  to  private  parties.  There  had  been 
co-education  in  Mr.  Bingham's  Institute.  With  the 
opening  of  collegiate  work  there  was  the  separation  of 
the  sexes  in  accordance  with  the  generally  accepted  views, 
at  that  time.  Marietta  College,  however,  it  should  be  said, 
began  with  a  co-ordinate  system,  which  may  perhaps 
therefore  be  regarded  as  the  normal  form  for  us. 

Did  time  permit,  it  would  be  delightful  to  trace  in 
detail  the  record  of  the  later  years,  to  speak  of  features 
of  the  student  life,  of  the  strong,  scholarly,  and  greatly 

119 


beloved  men  who  have  taught  here,  of  the  many  friends 
who  have  been  raised  up  at  critical  times  to  provide  for 
the  necesssities  of  the  College,  without  whom  it  could 
not  have  lived,  but  we  must  not  venture  into  these  things. 
Of  one  or  two  features  of  these  years,  however,  I  must 
speak.  In  seventy-five  years  this  College  has  had  only 
six  presidents.  Rev.  Joel  H.  Linsley  was  called  from  the 
pastorate  of  Park  Street  Church,  Boston,  in  1835.  He 
spent  most  of  his  first  year  in  soliciting  funds  for  the 
College,  and  served  eleven  years  until  1846.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Henry  Smith,  who  was  engaged  as 
teacher  here  in  1832,  and  was,  therefore,  thoroughly 
familiar  with  all  the  early  struggles.  His  service  as 
president  lasted  from  1846  until  1855,  a  period  of  nine 
years.  It  is  an  indication  of  the  high  quality  of  the  young 
men  who  had  been  secured  as  professors  that  the  trustees 
could  a  second  time  turn  at  once  to  the  faculty  for  a 
president.  Rev.  Israel  W.  Andrews,  a  professor  here 
since  1838,  .served  as  president  for  thirty  years  to  1885, 
when  he  retired  again  to  the  professor's  chair  until  his 
death  in  1888,  rounding  out  a  half  century  in  the  service 
of  the  College.  No  one  man  has  wrought  more  effectively 
for  the  College  than  he.  With  a  frail  physique,  neces- 
sitating constant  care  and  several  extended  absences  in 
search  of  health,  he  was  a  man  of  indomitable  spirit,  of 
high  ideals,  and  great  persistency.  His  own  high  stand- 
ard of  scholarship  was  an  inspiration  to  his  colleagues 
and  his  students.  It  is  due  to  him  chiefly  that  Marietta 
never  lowered  the  standard  of  scholarship  set  in  the 
beginning,  namely,  to  be  equal  to  the  best.  President 
Andrews  was  succeeded  by  Hon.  John  Eaton,  who  served 
six  years  to  1891,  during  which  the  College  showed  con- 
siderable growth.  After  a  year  when  Professor  Biscoe 
acted  as  chairman  of  the  faculty,  Rev.  John  W.  Simpson 
became  president.  His  four  years,  1892  to  1896,  were 

120 


PRESIDENT  ALFRED  TYLER  PERRY,  190C- 


marked  by  an  almost  too  rapid  expansion.  In  1896,  the 
College  faced  a  serious  situation.  While  its  endowment 
was  still  unimpaired,  it  had  accumulated  a  floating  debt 
of  very  large  proportions,  and  severe  retrenchment  was 
necessary  as  well  as  heroic  effort  to  secure  additional 
endowment.  During  four  trying  years  of  readjustment 
and  conservation,  Professor  J.  H.  Chamberlin  efficiently 
filled  the  post  of  acting  president.  With  1900  came  the 
completion  of  these  efforts  to  secure  funds  and  the  elec- 
tion of  the  present  President.  The  ten  years  of  his  service 
have  been  years  of  slow,  but  we  hope  permanent,  growth. 

The  history  of  this  and  every  college  is  a  record  of 
great  financial  struggles.  Again  and  again  have  the 
needs  of  the  institution  become  so  pressing  that  with 
much  sacrifice  and  often  heroic  endeavor  friends  have 
rallied  to  its  relief.  Never  has  this  College  had  funds 
enough  to  be  comfortable.  Stated  income  has  rarely 
equalled  expenditure;  it  has  had  to  be  supplemented  by 
special  gifts.  Too  much  of  the  energy  of  trustees  and 
presidents  have  been  spent  in  planning  ways  and  means; 
too  much  sacrifice  has  been  demanded  of  professors  by 
reason  of  the  inadequate  compensation  given  them.  In- 
deed, this  side  of  the  professor's  life  is  seldom  appreci- 
ated. Several  times  in  our  own  history  have  salaries, 
already  small,  been  reduced,  and  only  slowly  have  they 
been  increased.  Some  day  we  hope  our  millionaire  will 
discover  us  and  relieve  our  dire  necessities. 

The  College  having  been  started  by  the  citizens  of 
Marietta  has  always  been  treated  in  a  most  generous 
manner  by  them.  By  far  the  largest  part  of  the  money 
for  buildings  and  endowments  has  been  furnished  by 
local  friends.  Interest  has  been  shown  also  in  a  gracious 
hospitality  extended  to  students,  in  promoting  the  inter- 
ests of  the  College,  and  in  rallying  grandly  to  its  support 
in  every  time  of  financial  crisis.  In  1842,  the  proceeds 

121 


of  a  ladies'  fair,  amounting  to  $160.00,  were  received 
with  thanks.  The  fixing  of  the  home-coming  week  of 
the  city  coincident  with  our  anniversary  is  another  indi- 
cation of  this  close  and  friendly  relation  which  we  trust 
may  always  be  maintained. 

Surely  no  sketch  of  a  college  is  complete  without 
mention  of  those  for  whom  it  exists — those  youth  so 
full  of  life  and  untamed  ambitions  and  mischief,  who 
turn  the  college  and  the  city  upside  down,  and  in  the 
process  develop  a  love  for  both  that  brings  them  back 
as  devoted  worshippers  through  all  the  years.  It  is 
delightful  to  follow  out  into  life  those  who  have  gained 
new  impulse  here,  and  who  look  back  and  say :  To 
Marietta  College  I  owe  my  happiness  and  success  in  life. 
Since  1838,  when  the  first  class  of  four  received  their 
diplomas,  there  has  been  no  year  without  a  graduating 
class.  The  total  number  of  graduates,  including  those 
of  the  present  year,  is  991 ;  and  they  have  won  distinc- 
tion in  many  callings.  From  the  beginning  there  was 
a  literary  society  in  the  College,  and  the  two  for  men 
now  in  existence  were  organized  in  1839.  So  a  Society 
of  Inquiry  was  organized  in  1833,  which,  as  in  so  many 
colleges,  has  been  succeeded  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  The 
student  life  of  the  early  days  had  many  limitations. 
Elaborate  rules  governed  conduct  in  great  detail.  Chapel 
was  held  very  early,  in  the  winter  by  candlelight,  and 
then  the  sleepy  students  went  to  the  dimly  lighted  reci- 
tation rooms  in  the  basement  of  the  old  dormitory.  But 
the  students  of  those  days  learned  to  think,  and  fitted 
themselves  for  brave  battles  in  the  sphere  of  action. 

So  we  look  back  over  seventy-five  years  and  more 
of  loyal  devotion,  of  consecrated  endeavor,  of  generous 
giving,  of  inspiring  teaching,  of  eager  learning,  of  noble 
inspiration,  of  lofty  ideals,  of  gracious  providences,  of 
sweet  indications  of  the  Divine  favor.  Except  the  Lord 

122 


build  the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build  it.  But 
verily  the  Lord  hath  built  this  house,  and  the  labors  of 
these  noble  men  who  have  entered  into  their  rest  have 
not  been  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  So  we  turn  and  face  our 
present  task  and  the  unknown  difficulties  of  the  morrow 
full  of  new  inspiration  as  we  remember  what  the  fathers 
wrought,  and  cheered  by  the  confident  hope  that  He  who 
has  led  and  blessed  in  the  past,  who  has  founded  and 
preserved  this  institution,  will  grant  His  gracious  favor 
to  us  also,  that  our  work  may  become  part  of  His  great 
plan,  and  that  Marietta  College  may  long  abide  as  a 
building  of  God. 


President  Perry:  We  are  now  to  listen  to  the  His- 
torical Ode,  prepared  by  one  of  our  lady  graduates, 
Miss  Muriel  C.  Dyar,  of  the  class  of  '97,  which  will 
be  read  by  Professor  Herbert  D.  Bard,  of  the  College. 


123 


WE  STAND  BESIDE  A  TOMB! 
AN  ODE. 

By  Muriel  Campbell  Dyar,  '97. 


Written  in  honor  of  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of 
Marietta  College,  and  in  memory  of  the  founders  of  the 
town  of  Marietta,  of  those  soldiers  of  the  Revolution 
who,  venturing  into  the  wilderness  in  1787,  brought  with 
them  their  books  from  New  England,  by  this  act  laying, 
even  as  the  first  homes  were  planted  in  the  Northwest 
Territory,  the  spiritual  foundation  of  the  Territory's  first 
college,  and  later  western  schools. 

I. 

Today  no  green-hued  bays, 

No  garlands  round  the  Present's  breathing  form, 
We,  rev'rent  lay.     Is  it  not  young  and  warm  ? 
What  need  have  we  to  bring  it  wreaths,  or  come 
To  it,  with  any  noise  of  trump  and  drum  ? 
Idle  our  leaves  and  praise 
For  one  who  may,  still  striving,  seek  to  gain, 
Testing  youth's  steep  ascents,  its  own  acclaim. 
Rather  we  would  our  tender  branches  cast 
Above  the  crumbled  figure  of  the  Past 
That  in  dim  chambers,  patiently,  must  lie 
And  let  the  tread  of  honoring  feet  go  by; 
Whether  they  eager  flock,  and  run  or  leap, 
They  cannot  stir  nor  break  the  precious  sleep 
Of  its  dead,  vent'rous  days. 

124 


We  stand  beside  a  tomb ! 

Perished  the  grace  and  strength  beneath  to  dust, 

The  garments  gone  the  way  of  moth  and  rust, 

The  smell  of  spice  and  aloes  and  dark  myrrh 

For  years  and  years  fled  from  the  sepulchre. 

We  stand  beside  a  tomb. 

Before  a  door  by  a  great  stone  strong  sealed, 

So  that  its  mysteries  are  not  revealed 

Unto  the  earthly  vision  of  our  eyes. 

Yet  though  the  Past  may  not  awake  or  rise, 

Death  has  not  bitterness,  nor  the  grave  woe. 

Rises  a  victory  o'er  dust  below ; 

The  spirit,  freed,  mounts  upon  lofty  wings 

We  hear  them  move — 'tis  like  a  voice  which  sings 

Beyond  this  fast-closed  room ! 

Naught  of  itself  is  born. 

Back  of  each  thing  that  creeps  into  the  light 

Stands,  anciently,  on  some  wide-bosomed  height, 

The  singing  grave  from  whose  bound  sides  there  flowed 

Live  notes  to  speed  it  on  its  hidden  road 

Until  it  found  its  morn, 

Its  hurts  forgot,  its  darkness  left  behind, 

Its  steps  grown  sure,  once  stumbling,  infant,  blind. 

As  monks  of  yore,  within  hushed  cloister  aisles, 

Their  foreheads  bent,  athwart  the  massive  piles 

Of  parchments,  to  be  scrolled  by  stories  told 

In  stains  of  fiery  tints,  and  sometimes  gold, 

Our  length'ning  scrip  of  Life  we  illumine  not 

By  our  own  acts  in  careful  colors  wrought, 

But  with  old  deeds  adorn. 

II. 

A  fair  Past  will  not  rest 

We  worhsip  with  our  sincere  wreaths  that  band 
Which,  in  a  winter's  dawn,  the  proven  land 

125 


They  loved  gave  up,  forsook  the  kindly  smoke 

Warming  their  hearths,  manfully  to  evoke 

On  a  deep-dangered  quest 

A  hardship  and  a  strife  they  had  laid  down. 

They,  from  the  burden  of  a  wrongful  crown, 

Had  helped  to  wrench  their  scarce-made  country  free, 

To  lift  her,  fainting  and  sore  bruised,  to  see 

Again  the  sky.     Hard  won  was  her  release 

And  red  with  blood  that  noble  battle  peace. 

Shall  wonder  be  her  patriots  were  the  seers 

To  fix  a  gaze  undimmed  by  craven  fears 

Into  the  wilderness? 

Beforetimes  hearts  have  sought. 

Full  oft  has  many  a  cavalcade  set  out 

'Mid  standards  borne,  and  spur  of  song  and  shout. 

Perhaps  thrown  roses  fell  towards  blazoned  breasts 

Which  hotly  throbbed,  to  sign,  that  per'lous  quests 

Are  yet  with  pleasures  fraught. 

Not  throngs  adoring  cheered  these  quiet  men, 

Not  roses  decked  them,  simple  garbed,  and  when, 

Walking  knee-deep  through  stress  of  bitter  snow 

They  left  their  towns,  no  gay  eyes  watched  them  go. 

They  did  not  swing  in  careless  ease  and  lust 

Unto  their  goal ;  in  faith  of  God,  and  trust, 

Forward  they  yearned  with  grave,  stout,  mighty  looks, 

Stern  claspt  to  them — oh,  harvest  seeds ! — their  books, 

Companions  of  their  lot. 

They  did  not  know  how  great 

The  task.    They  yielded  souls  and  hardy  frames, 

Unthinking  that  the  brief  line  of  their  names, 

All  fadelessly,  like  a  bright  solemn  star 

For  hurrying  multitudes  would  gleam  afar. 

They  never  asked  of  Fate 

126 


Their  meed.    Triumphant  o'er  whatever  pain, 
Their  web  of  days,  through  sun  or  cold  or  rain, 
They  wove,  not  looking  from  the  arduous  loom 
Of  that  new  land  they  made,  bearing  the  gloom 
Where  they  must  lowly  sit  concealed,  until 
Their  hands  which  dare  not  fail,  at  length  are  still. 
Marked  but  by  faithful  threads  their  steadfast  toil, 
And  lo,  a  pattern  glows  on  virgin  soil 
Perfect  to  imitate. 

They  strove  for  homes,  not  fame, 

But  on  the  roll  of  History  it  is  praised 

That  those  unpainted,  rough-hewn  walls  they  raised 

Were  to  endure,  the  gate-way  arching  wide 

Westward  where  through  in  a  victorious  tide 

A  nation,  quickened,  came. 

Those  feeble  fires  on  alien  stones  they  burned 

Enkindle  still,  those  pages  that  they  turned, 

Reading  their  books  with  mem'ries  backward  held 

In  quenchless  dreams  of  far-off  sounds,  impelled 

That  a  vast  empire  which  yet  fallow  lay, 

Its  savage  front  against  the  breaking  day, 

No  dull,  imperfect  shard  remained,  but  grew 

Lit  from  the  learning  of  rich  minds  into 

A  chalice  touched  with  flame. 

III. 

Good  years  forever  die? 

Ah  nay !    When  on  ourselves  we  think  we  most 

Depend,  in  mystic  presence  of  a  Host 

Unseen,  we're  shepherded  by  by-gone  hours. 

We,  blatant,  boast  ?    Vaunting  our  own  powers  ? 

Ageless,  immortally. 

The  guardian  voices  of  the  vanished  years, 


127 


If  nobly  lived,  cry  on.     A  tuned  ear  hears, 

Clean  purged  of  self,  the  sweeping,  song-tipped  wings 

Of  brave  and  splendid  unremembered  things. 

Even  as  children  we,  that  o'er  and  o'er 

Catch  the  strange  thought  of  what  has  been  before — 

The  scent  of  flowers  they  plait  upon  the  grass 

Convince  them  that  there  hither  once  did  pass 

Another  pageantry. 

O  College,  granted  birth 

Where  peace  of  stream,  and  wood,  and  field  soft  fills 

In  beauteousness  an  angle  of  the  hills. 

Thou,  whom  so  long  ago  thy  fathers  bade 

To  live,  with  antique  glory  art  thou  clad ! 

Give  thanks  there  was  no  dearth 

Of  goodly  gift  at  thy  nativity. 

In  honor  bend  thine  head,  since  graciously 

Upon  thy  brow  is  given  from  high  days 

Truth,  and  the  wisdom  of  experienced  ways 

Faith,  Hope,  and  purest  Courage  to  fulfil 

The  portion  which  is  set  by  Heaven's  will. 

Thou,  amply  cradled  in  this  shining  wise 

Raise  up  the  soul  that  latent  in  thee  lies. 

Take  heed  unto  thy  worth. 

A  heritage,  imperious  and  serene, 

Straightly  thy  path  transcends.    Thou  durst  not  wean 

Thy  steps  from  it.    Heroic  its  request. 

Around  thee,  hark !  invis'bly  art  thou  prest. 

For  thee  cries  out  the  tomb 

By  whose  low-builded  sides  we,  falt'ring  stand, 

The  years  lay  their  command. 

Through  what  may  be  thy  need, 

Listen,  and  they  will  lead. 

Inglorious  thy  doom, 

128 


If  thou  forgetst  thy  Past, 
Keeping  its  words  in  mind 
Then  wilt  thou  certain  find, 
Thyself  to  be  upon  a  golden  height. 
Then  manifest  thy  might, 
Thus  only  shalt  thou  last. 


President  Perry:  It  is  with  very  great  pleasure  that 
I  introduce  the  Reverend  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus,  D.  D.,  of 
Chicago,  who  will  pronounce  the  anniversary  oration  on 
the  theme,  The  Heroism  of  Scholarship. 


129 


THE  HEROISM  OF  SCHOLARSHIP 
By  REV.  FRANK  W.  GUNSAULUS,  D.  D. 


Dr.  Gunsaulus:  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men: When  George  William  Curtis  was  preparing  that 
passage  in  his  eulogy  of  Wendell  Phillips  which  touched 
upon  Harvard's  tardy  recognition  of  the  excellence  of 
her  most  eloquent  son,  and  Phillips'  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
address,  which  was  an  indictment  of  American  scholar- 
ship on  the  score  of  its  cowardice,  that  prince  of  aca- 
demic orators  lamented  the  fact  that  those  brothers  of  a 
common  lot,  Emerson,  in  his  Essay  on  Heroism,  and 
Carlyle,  in  his  "Heroes  and  Hero  Worship/'  had  failed 
to  celebrate  the  essentially  epic  quality  of  the  scholar's 
life.  It  has  sufficed  for  most  of  us  to  reflect  that  Emer- 
son in  every  page  taught  us  that  "the  foundation  of  all 
culture  is  the  moral  sentiment,"  and  that  Carlyle's  spirit 
was  so  fundamentally  scholarly  and  heroic  that  he  could 
not  pause  until  the  great  and  worthy  Oliver  Cromwell 
was  freed  from  the  prison-house  made  for  him  by  the 
sceptic  Hume.  By  him,  and  in  this  way,  a  pedantic  and 
self-exploiting  age  led  forward  to  a  career  of  fearless 
and  fetterless  thinking. 

I  think  it  will  be  recognized  that  our  theme  is  a 
timely  one  and  especially  at  this  juncture  in  our  social, 
literary,  artistic  and  political  development.  We  have 
adopted,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  in  divers  manners,  and 
for  sundry  reasons,  the  behests  of  a  strenuous  life.  We 
must  learn  that  heroism  is  more  than  strenuousness. 
Our  strenuousness,  especially  the  American  type,  comes 
with  highly  excited  nerves  and  with  much  luxury.  The 

130 


scholar  is  calm,  on  the  other  hand,  even  if  pursuit  of 
scholarly  aims  has  never  meant  security  of  position, 
three  bountiful  meals  a  day,  ease  and  luxury  for  the 
body,  or  even  perpetual  happiness  for  the  soul.  The 
very  fact  that  a  man  wishes,  above  all  things,  to  study, 
means  renunciation,  and  it  provides  a  curb  to  self-seek- 
ing, above  all  to  self-pleasing.  When  a  man  adopts 
this  course,  he  enters  the  mystic  circle  of  men  who  must 
ever  appear  mysterious  beings  for  this  reason  alone,  that 
they  ask  no  profits  and  anticipate  no  dividends;  in  fact, 
where  there  is  apparently  nobody  consecrated  to  the 
obtaining  of  profits  and  the  creation  of  dividends.  It 
looks  not  to  the  crowns  of  this  world,  either  to  wear  them 
or  to  obey  them  for  their  own  sake.  This  made  it  at 
home  in  young  America,  where  there  was  solitude, — the 
leader  of  this  educational  movement  now  three-quarters 
of  a  century  old.  But  its  Americanism — and  we  have 
learned  it  from  the  career  of  this  institution  as  much  as 
from  any  institution  in  the  world — its  Americanism  must 
have  a  moral  basis.  The  episode  of  a  few  years  ago  in 
which  the  Emperor  of  Germany  undertook  to  guide 
political  study  by  suddenly  waving  his  sceptre  in  the  field 
where  Babylonian  archeology  touches  that  of  Hebrew 
exegesis,  furnishes  those  who  think  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  American  Republic  a  very  chastening  lesson.  We 
need  to  learn  even  now  that  German  scholarship  would 
not  be  confused  even  by  a  Kaiser ;  that  American  scholar- 
ship must  not  be  confused  even  by  a  mob.  German 
scholarship  will  labor  and  teach  until  even  that  royal 
theologian,  Kaiser  Wilhelm,  will  reflect  that  he  holds  his 
real  dominion  less  because  of  the  successful  battles  in 
which  Von  Moltke  made  war  a  science  and  because  Bis- 
marck made  war  an  expression  of  statecraft,  far  less, 
than  because  of  the  fact  that  Charlottenburg  and  Carls- 
ruhe  have  so  nearly  perfected  a  certain  scheme  and  prac- 

131 


tice  of  technical  training,  and  Von  Stein  and  Von  Har- 
denburg  have  infused  into  the  public  life  of  Prussia 
working  ideals  of  common  school  education,  ideals 
worthy  of  the  land  of  Luther  and  Goethe. 

The  child  of  these  forces  is  free-born.  It  goes  with- 
out saying  that  many  of  the  mechanical  contrivances, 
which  emperors  once  used  for  the  production  of  orthodox 
opinions,  are  out  of  date  and  in  museums  like  that  of 
Nuremburg.  Even  the  prison  is  no  longer  useful  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  the  interests  of  bibliolatry,  or 
any  kind  of  idolatry.  Perhaps  we  lose  much  from  this 
transformation.  Indeed,  otherwise,  we  might  get  a  good 
book  now  and  then  out  of  a  jail  if  some  scholar  had, 
incidentally,  time  furnished  by  his  prison  life  to  write  it. 
It  is  of  the  heroism  of  scholarship  that  we  speak  when 
we  remember  the  books  that  have  been  written  in  prison 
which  the  consent  of  years  has  called  literature  and  its 
classics.  St.  Paul's  letters,  Cervantes'  "Don  Quixote," 
Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  Marco  Polo's  surmisings 
which  formed  a  contribution  to  the  Discovery  of  Amer- 
ica, Boethius'  "Consolations  of  Philosophy,"  and  the 
rest,  all  written  in  jail.  Time  would  fail  me  to  speak 
of  the  Gideons  of  scholarship  who  led  bands  like  unto 
his  own  which  have  lapped  at  the  spring  in  order  that 
some  Israel  might  be  saved;  of  blind  Kittos  who  made 
concordances  and  similar  books  to  lighten  the  labors  of 
other  generations;  of  exiles  like  Dante,  under  whose 
hood  Lowell  would  have  us  believe  that  there  walked  all 
that  was  great  in  a  great  age;  of  blind  poets  like  Homer, 
who  so  sang  of  past  ages  that  all  ages  listen  to  his  epic. 

The  scholar  is  of  a  noble  race.  His  mind  is  master 
of  that  process  which  Matthew  Arnold  called  "character 
passing  into  intellectual  productions."  He  is  so  true  as 
to  fear  not  for  truth.  Often  he  has  been  wont  to  say 
with  Hales  of  Eaton:  "If  with  all  this  cost  and  pain 

132 


my  poor  chase  is  but  error,  I  may  say  to  err  hath  cost 
me  more  than  it  has  many  to  gain  the  truth."  His 
acquaintance  with  truth  is  usually  so  satisfactory  that 
he  preaches  with  Frederic  Ozanam  of  the  Sorbonne  "The 
Duty  of  Being  just  to  Error."  This  state  of  mind  does 
not  come  of  superficialness  of  feeling  as  to  truth,  but  it 
bubbles  up  from  a  depth  of  faith  that  fears  nothing  and 
will  do  all  for  truth.  This  is  the  source  of  the  passion  of 
the  brotherhood  of  true  scholars. 

The  power  of  observation  and  reasoning  in  man  has 
been  quickened  and  intensified  by  the  self-forgetful  en- 
thusiasm which  has  served  the  whole  fraternity  of  schol- 
ars at  the  dissecting  table,  the  retort,  in  the  white  North 
or  crowded  hospital  whose  pauper  wards  breathe  death; 
and  this  brotherhood  of  heroes  has  often  become  a  noble 
army  of  martyrs  unsurpassed  even  in  the  annals  of  re- 
ligion. Simpson  or  Morton  experimenting  with  anaes- 
thetics and  Pasteur  laboring  with  hydrophobia,  these  are 
the  men  that  are  fraternal  with  Powell  in  the  Canyon 
of  the  Colorado,  or  Humboldt  ascending  perilous  heights. 
Our  own  time  requires  a  conservatism  which  is  no  less 
heroic  than  the  radicalism  demanded  by  another  age. 
Regard  for  precedent,  a  stern  and  joyous  confidence  that 
the  future  to  live  must  grow  up  out  of  the  past,  an 
assurance  that  any  lesson  that  we  refuse  to  learn  and 
therefore  goes  unlearned,  must  some  time  be  learned, 
and  yet,  because  of  postponement,  must  be  learned  at 
a  greater  cost, — the  conviction  must  be  learned  that  no 
new  problem  can  ever  be  solved  upon  its  merits  alone, — 
these  are  not  to  the  taste  of  a  time  dominated  by  the 
crass  and  uneducated.  Nevertheless,  they  must  be  taught 
by  an  invincible  scholarship  to  the  fierce  democracy,  be- 
fore law  may  wisely  attempt  to  embody  the  conscience 
and  hope  of  a  free  people.  These  are  old  truths  which 
may  need  to  come  like  discoveries  that  they  may  be 

133 


welcomed.  But  they  must  not  only  be  received;  they 
must  be  accepted  with  loyalty.  The  heroism  of  scholar- 
ship is  manifested  not  only  when  the  student  and  thinker 
finds  that  his  apparently  fresh  discovery  in  the  philosophy 
of  jurisprudence  is  as  old  as  Grotius,  or  that  his  ecstacy 
at  what  he  calls  a  new  revelation  in  the  behavior  of  the 
chemic  forces  long  ago  fascinated  the  genius  of  some 
Paracelsus,  but  also  in  acknowledging  the  value  of  their 
earlier  and  more  expensive  accomplishment.  Let  us  not 
fail  in  acknowledging  all  our  indebtedness.  This  is  the 
scholar's  "esprit  de  corps."  Yet,  in  point  of  furnishing 
testimony  to  a  clear  head  and  sound  heart  in  the  scholar, 
I  place  even  above  this  his  unswerving  interest  in  the 
truth  he  has  won  and  his  devotion  to  her,  when  he  has 
found  out  that  others  have  loved  her  before  he  was  born. 
The  heroism  of  scholarship  is  nowhere  more  genuine 
and  evident  than  in  the  history  of  failure.  It  is  a  long 
story  which  I  must  not  repeat  to  this  assemblage,  but 
we  can  never  know  the  cost  of  any  apparently  extempo- 
raneous achievement  until  we  count  over  the  long  list  of 
humiliating  failures  which  preceded  it.  The  soil  for 
every  plant  of  intelligence  is  sacrificial  and  sacramental. 
It  would  appear  that  the  human  mind  must  be  baffled 
and  disappointed,  led  astray,  enveloped  in  darkness  and 
to  all  appearances  forsaken  by  truth  before  it  recognizes 
the  value  of  truth.  Truth  must  cost  more  than  it  ever 
comes  to,  before  it  bears  the  sign  manual  of  highest 
worth  to  man's  faculties.  The  angel,  called  Truth,  must 
elude  our  grasp,  vanish  from,  sight,  reappear  in  hideous 
or  enchanting  forms,  confront  us  where  she  is  least 
expected  or  desired,  absent  herself  from  the  trysting 
places  which  our  sagacity  or  enthusiasm  has  prepared, 
demand  richer  offerings  until  our  earthly  treasure  is 
gone,  extort  devotions  which  prostrate  us  before  her, 
ere  Truth  is  certain  that  we  have  courted  her  long  enough 

134 


and  are  familiar  enough,  one  with  another,  for  Truth 
and  our  soul  to  live  together.  Scholarship  has  never 
found  perfect  companionship  with  Truth,  until  the  open- 
eyed  spirit  of  man  has  made  it  certain  that  Orpheus  is 
able  and  willing  to  renounce  the  rapture  of  embracing 
and  even  gazing  upon  his  loved  Eurydice. 

The  man  who  has  to  do  with  the  Kingdom  of  Truths 
must  have  power  to  entertain  any  single  truth  long 
enough  for  that  truth  so  dearly  loved  to  aid  him  to 
another  truth  sure  to  furnish  eclipse.  He  must  be  will- 
ing to  see  his  darling  truth  darkened  by  another's  excess 
of  light.  But  all  this  willingness  grows  only  with  a 
deposit  of  character  in  him  which  results  from  the  search 
for  truth  through  many  failures.  This  is  one  of  the 
reasons  why  we  may  say  that  the  scholar's  heroism  in 
being  willing  so  often  to  be  defeated  is  something  more 
than  dull-eyed  insensibility.  Willingness  to  fail,  not  in 
searching,  but  in  finding  truth,  does  not  grow  from  the 
foolish  notion  that  truth  is  valuable  only  because  it  is 
rare.  No  mere  rarity  as  to  truth  could  make  it  worth 
having  or  losing.  Truth  is  waiting  always  to  make 
itself  experimentally  true  in  the  soul  of  man!  and  the 
soul  of  man  always  has  to  wait  for  its  true  self  until 
truth  is  found.  All  may  wait  in  God's  long  process. 
Neither  man's  mind  nor  truth  can  attain  efficiency — the 
one  without  the  other.  Out  of  flint  and  steel  in  sharp 
contact  leaps  the  fire.  And  so  it  is  the  spirit  of  scholar- 
ship, in  its  elasticity  of  movement  and  the  capacity  for 
using  unexpected  manifestations  of  truth,  that  the  his- 
tory of  discovered  truth  is,  in  a  large  part,  the  history 
of  those  moments  in  which  the  eye  of  the  searcher,  gaz- 
ing wistfully  out  to  descry  one  thing,  has  unexpectedly 
found  another.  In  such  hours,  all  depends  on  the  atti- 
tude and  temper  of  the  student.  A  Berzilius  in  his 
kitchen  laboratory,  with  the  heroism  which  belongs  to 

135 


true  scholarship,  is  so  in  tune  with  the  fundamental  har- 
mony, one  of  whose  melodies  he  is  searching  for,  that 
when  suddenly  another  and  unsought-for  melody  is  mani- 
fested, whatever  may  be  its  importance  or  unimportance, 
his  progress  is  not  at  all  impeded  by  it!  He  is  so  true 
to  truth  that  he  sweeps  this  unsearched-for  melody  into 
his  choral  march.  The  scholar  expects  the  unexpected. 
Many  a  scholarly  De  Leon,  failing  to  find  the  fountain 
of  youth  in  a  new  continent  of  thought,  has,  nevertheless, 
given  a  land  of  promise  and  hope  where  men  and  nations 
renew  their  youth.  The  Florida  of  fact  usually  proves 
a  failure  to  locate  a  fancy.  The  Saul  of  ancient  and 
modern  research  is  perpetually  going  out  to  seek  his 
father's  asses,  and  he  is  often  returning  with  a  kingdom. 
The  fate  of  Truth  is  the  fate  of  Goodness  in  minds  set 
upon  valuing  either  Truth  or  Goodness  by  the  use  of  it; 
"Every  failure  is  a  triumph's  evidence  of  the  fulness  of 
the  days."  "All  things  work  together  for  truth  to  them 
who  love  the  truth."  It  is  not  only  Mr.  Huxley  who 
says:  "The  attainment  of  scientific  truth  has  been 
effected,  to  a  great  extent,  by  the  help  of  scientific 
errors,"  but  also  Mr.  Leslie  Stephen  tells  us  in  his 
"Apology  of  an  Agnostic,"  that  "even  the  spread  of  an 
error  is  part  of  the  world-wide  process  by  which  we 
stumble  into  mere  approximations  to  truth." 

Probably  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  defends  his  place  to 
stand  beside  Shakespeare  in  the  realm  of  imagination, 
because  he  is  the  most  charming  and  capable  and  honest 
liar  of  the  "Spacious  times  of  great  Elizabeth,"  for  be- 
cause of  a  fine  mistake  and  the  failure  to  find  fancied 
gold,  England  was  led  to  the  event  of  adding  the  gem 
Virginia  to  her  crown.  Scholarship  never  falters  after 
a  failure;  it  ever  searches  in  the  coffers  of  a  failure  for 
coin  to  help  it  on  to  a  success  up  to  that  time  undreamed 
of.  Scholarship  smites  and  carves  at  a  huge  block  of 

136 


marble  to  obtain  a  statue,  memorable  of  some  coarse 
chieftain  of  a  clan,  but  to  be  foiled,  yet  finally  to  be 
rewarded,  not  with  this,  but  with  finding  in  some  frag- 
ment of  the  marble  which  is  broken  away  in  the  process, 
a  hint  more  justly  wrought  out  and  shapened  into  the 
lovelier  statuette  of  a  goddess  so  fine  as  to  make  for  im- 
mortality. The  Eldorados  of  culture,  before  whose 
dreamy  spaces  some  De  Soto  has  wandered  to  and  fro, 
are  not  so  valuable  as  the  muddiest  Mississippi  which 
drains  a  Continent  of  Fact.  To  find  the  one  is  to  have 
failed  to  find  the  other. 

In  Chemistry,  Physics,  Geography,  and  Astronomy, 
scholarship  has  done  no  more  than  in  the  region  of  re- 
form, statesmanship  and  the  religious  life,  to  prove  that 
the  shadow  lights  of  her  failure  and*  the  very  bril- 
liancy of  her  blunderings  attest  her  moral  heroism.  Who 
can  tell  the  story  of  her  capacity  to  adopt,  on  the  instant, 
and  find  a  good  nurse  for  any  unexpected  Moses  whom 
she  discovers  in  the  Nile  when  she  went  there  wishing 
only  to  bathe.  We  need  to  find  in  the  History  of  Democ- 
racy that  Manasseh  Cutler  carried  the  State  of  Ohio 
and  all  the  Northwest  Territory  in  his  saddle  bag.  The 
spirit  of  scholarship  has  learned  from  these  achievements 
coming  out  of  failures  by  which  she  has  been  unabashed, 
that  no  experiment  is  final.  Never  did  the  scholar  in 
politics  need  more  seriously  to  repeat  to  all  lands  Win- 
throp's  great  words,  "The  experiment  of  free  govern- 
ment is  not  one  which  can  be  tried  once  for  all.  Every 
generation  must  try  it  for  itself.  As  each  new  genera- 
tion starts  up  to  the  responsibilities  of  manhood,  there 
is,  as  it  were,  a  new  launch  of  Liberty,  and  its  voyage 
of  experiment  begins  afresh."  So  long  as  scholarship 
in  this  College  of  Marietta  keeps  its  old  faith,  this  ex- 
periment of  free  government  will  not  be  an  experiment 
at  all.  But  with  this  faith,  there  must  always  go  a  sub- 

137 


lime  respect  for  the  heroism  which  is  willing  to  fail,  if, 
indeed,  it  may  only  pace  the  desolate  shore  where  it 
sought  to  land  its  convoys  and  spend  its  life  in  sighting 
and  warning  other  craft,  crying  out  to  them  from  ship- 
wrecked experience:  "No,  no!  the  ships  of  God  do  not 
land  here." 

The  production  of  a  philosophy,  a  scheme  of  thought, 
even  of  an  adequately  expressive  idea,  has  behind  it 
much  the  same  history  of  failure,  or,  at  least,  of  incom- 
plete achievement,  as  the  invention  of  a  machine.  When 
at  last  it  comes  to  the  patent  office  of  public  apprehension 
or  approval,  there  is  usually  a  contest  among  many  minds 
who  have  only  the  right  to  claim  the  authorship  of  the 
last  culminating  contribution,  each  asserting,  "it  is  mine." 
On  the  question  of  originality,  we  are  told  that  an  idea 
is  his  who  says  it  best.  Many  are  the  inadequate  efforts 
to  utter  it,  however,  before  saying  it  best  is  possible  to 
any  man.  When  the  idea  is  at  length  clothed  with  what 
Emerson  calls  the  "inevitable  word,"  there  is  not  lacking 
testimony  that  the  word's  very  inevitableness  was  secured 
through  an  evolution  whose  supreme  accomplishment  left 
behind  it  many  defeats.  It  is  impossible,  however,  with 
an  idea,  to  preserve  its  history  so  accurately  as  the  his- 
tory of  a  machine  is  kept  in  a  museum  of  discarded  and 
prophetic  appliances.  Nevertheless,  the  name  of  many  a 
scholar  takes  its  place  with  that  of  Hargreave's,  whose 
unrewarded  genius  flickered  out  in  a  work-house  before 
England  began  to  coin  her  greatest  wealth.  It  is  the 
scholar's  heroism  to  be  willing  thus  to  fail  and  to  have 
such  a  passion  for  getting  on  toward  truth  that  he  shall 
omit  to  stamp  and  label  his  feelings  after  truth,  thus 
realizing  the  nobility  of  his  calling  in  the  gladness  of 
the  struggle  rather  than  in  the  splendor  of  the  prize. 

It  is  not  altogether  certain  that  this  spirit  or  disposi- 
tion of  mind,  at  once  self-abnegating  and  self-satisfying, 

138 


is  not  the  supreme  achievement  of  scholarly  effort.  If 
it  be  true  wisdom  which  a  great  thinker  once  pronounced 
when  he  said,  "If  I  were  twenty,  and  had  but  ten  years 
to  live,  I  would  spend  the  first  nine  years  accumulating 
knowledge  and  getting  ready  for  the  tenth/'  then  it 
must  be  a  proof  of  divine  economy  with  human  charac- 
ter, that  so  many  men  shall  be  honored  as  prophets  in 
order  that  the  speech  of  one  may  ultimately  be  golden. 
Of  the  goodly  fellowship  of  scholar-prophets  it  may  be 
said,  "the  same  reward  shall  be  to  him  who  goeth  into 
the  battle  and  to  him  who  stayeth  by  the  stuff."  Perhaps, 
also,  what  the  visible  conqueror  gets  in  joyous  acclaim 
on  the  spot  of  triumph  is  not  so  fine  and  high  in  spiritual 
quality  as  that  which  is  slowly  and  invisibly  deposited  in 
the  soul  of  him  who,  hearing  victorious  shouts  only  from 
far  away,  maintains  the  courage  and  order  of  the  camp. 
All  true  philosophers  grow  according  to  a  gracious,  but 
expensive  law.  They  who  hold  in  grateful  hands  the 
results  of  a  moment's  apparent  blossoming  are  but  the 
topmost  cells  of  a  century  plant  closest  to  a  flower  whose 
sudden  manifestation  is  the  result  of  an  hundred  years. 
These  cells  of  the  calyx  may  well  look  back  and  say  of 
the  cells  of  stock  and  root,  "these  all  receive  not  the 
promise,  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  for  us 
that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect."  Per- 
fection is  social.  The  scholar  who  grasps  perfection 
inherits  his  power  to  hold  it  from  heroic  and  prophetic 
men  of  the  past,  who  produced  promising  imperfections; 
and  the  scholar,  on  the  other  hand,  is  never  so  scholarly 
as  when  he  realizes  that  he  has  required  all  the  excel- 
lent failures  as  well  as  successes  of  the  past  to  make  him 
what  he  is,  and  that  likewise  he  shall  require  the  entire 
scholarship  of  the  future,  in  its  ripest  fruitage,  to  attain 
his  true  self.  He  is  ever  saying,  "Not  that  I  have  at- 
tained, neither  were  already  perfect;  but  I  press  on. 

139 


Now  as  many  as  are  perfect  be  like  minded."  That  is, 
if  you  have  any  sense  of  perfection  in  you,  you  will  have 
an  immense  love  for  the  imperfect  out  of  which  perfect 
must  come.  Child  of  an  age,  he  works  with  the  ageless, 
in  the  ageless,  for  the  ageless ;  he  is  the  pledged  and  cour- 
ageous devotee  of  the  incomplete.  He  would  rather 
plant  a  cherry  stone  than  to  leave  it  carven  with  pedantic 
miniatures.  His  grain  of  wheat  is  more  valuable  than 
a  gem  cut  and  set  in  gold,  for  the  very  reason  that  it 
can  be  hidden  to  rot  in  the  earth  and  bring  forth.  The 
vitality  of  his  courage  is  maintained  by  his  having  yielded 
to  motives  which  prevent  perfection  at  his  hands.  While 
he  lives,  he  walks  with  the  step  of  Michael  Angelo, 
whose  emblem  was  the  figure  of  an  old  man  seated  in 
the  go-cart  of  a  little  child,  and  his  motto  was,  "Ancora 
in  paro — I  am  still  learning."  He  is  ever  telling  his 
brotherhood : 

"On  our  heels  a  fresh  perfection  treads, 
A  power  more  strong  in  beauty,  born  of  us, 
And  fated  to  excel  us." 

If  he  is  wearied,  some  god  whispers  to  him,  "Thou  art 
wearied  in  the  greatness  of  thy  way,"  or  some  seer 
answers  him  that  "not  failure,  but  low  aim,  is  crime." 

Thus,  the  very  feat  of  living  makes  the  scholar  a 
supreme  artist  with  life.  Broad  and  swift  is  his  tech- 
nique, and  it  is  sure.  His  material  is  to  be  given  a  finer, 
because  more  truthful,  and,  therefore,  more  beautiful 
form,  only  as  his  personality  touches  it  with  its  own 
passionate  truthfulness  and  love  for  that  truth,  which  is 
the  harmony  of  things,  and  therefore  beautiful.  His 
art  means  disaster  to  a  market  wishing  to  trade  in  what 
are  called  finished  things.  He  must  be  willing  to  suffer 
misunderstandings,  save  by  elect  spirits,  in  so  far  as 

140 


high  ambitions  and  motives  which  demand  largeness 
of  treatment  rule  him.  Let  his  work  be  conceived 
and  executed  in  the  spacious  hours;  it  will  have  its  own 
chronicle.  He  must  yield  himself,  in  this  art  of  schol- 
arship, to  enlarging  influences  at  whatever  cost.  It  is 
this  greater  scholarship  which  speaks  when  Diman  said, 
"To  have  read  Euripides  with  Milton  were  better  than 
having  the  latest  critical  edition."  Perhaps  it  is  not 
useful  to  neglect  the  latest  critical  edition  that  one  may 
read  Pindar  with  an  Arthur  Hugh  Clough  at  Harvard, 
or  Plato  with  Benjamin  Jowett  at  Oxford.  The  ideal 
scholar  is  an  idealist  and  realist,  and  always  an  impres- 
sionist. 

Such  scholarship  vitalizes  us,  because  it  has  epic  fire 
in  it.  Not  merely  light,  but  heat,  is  needed  for  life. 
So  the  soldiers  of  scholarship  are  brothers  to  those  of  art 
who  have  possessed  such  chivalry  of  mind  that  after 
ages  have  counted  up  their  eminent  failures  and  found 
within  them  all  the  progress  of  an  ideal  which  has 
attested  its  virtue  in  a  production  which  is  satisfying, 
not  because  of  its  mechanical  perfection,  but  because  it 
is  a  feeling  after  the  infinite  expressing  itself.  "I  con- 
fess," said  Hunt,  the  most  illuminative  of  American 
artists,  "some  of  our  culture  seems  to  me  like  sand- 
papering the  eyeball."  The  highest  product  of  such 
culture  is  petty,  and  even  if  its  victim  attempt  the  largest 
and  most  inspiring  of  subjects,  it  will  issue  in  some  exqui- 
site trifle  of  pedantry  whose  very  exquisiteness  is  its 
shame.  And  no  scholar  is  so  dull,  even  in  such  slavery  to 
the  hyper-academic  and  conventional,  as  not  to  wish  him- 
self delivered  from  these  stupidly  admired  chains.  He 
sits  like  Andrea  del  Sarto  with  the  enslaving  Lucretia, 
whom  he  would  not  only  love,  but  honor;  as  he  cannot, 
he  says : 

141 


"A  common  grayness  silvers  everything, — 
All  in  a  twilight  you  and  I  alike — " 

When  he  looks  out  upon  the  kingly  and  freedom-loving 
scholars  who  often  blunder  and  are  defeated,  who  yet 
know  that  inspiration,  and  even  illumination,  are  more 
than  instruction,  he  sees  the  grandeur  of  their  failure 
and  the  disgrace  of  his  success  at  pleasing  a  vanishing 
moment  with  an  equally  vanishing  bit  of  soulless  per- 
fectness,  and  his  soul  cries  out: 

"I  do  what  many  dream  of,  all  their  lives, 
Dream?  strive  to  do,  and  agonize  to  do, 
And  fail  in  doing.     I  could  count  twenty  such 
On  twice  your  fingers,  and  not  leave  this  town, 
Who  strive — you  don't  know  how  the  others  strive 
To  paint  a  little  thing  like  that  you  smeared 
Carelessly  passing  with  your  robes  afloat, — 
Yet  do  much  less,  so  much  less,  some  one  says, 
(I  know  his  name,  no  matter) — so  much  less! 
Well,  less  is  more,  Lucrezia :    I  am  judged. 
There  burns  a  truer  light  of  God  in  them, 
In  their  vexed  beating,  stuffed  and  stopped-up  brain, 
Heart,  or  whate'er  else,  than  goes  to  prompt 
This  low-pulsed  forthright  craftsman's  hand  of  mine. 
Their  work  drops  groundward,  but  themselves,  I  know, 
Reach  many  a  time  a  heaven  that's  shut  to  me, 
Enter  and  take  their  place  there  sure  enough, 
Though  they  come  back  and  cannot  tell  the  world. 
My  work  is  nearer  heaven,  but  I  sit  here." 

This  is  the  self-explanatory  requiem  of  a  soul  who  knows 
not  the  scholar's. or  the  artist's  heroic  ability  to  fail 
grandly.  Largeness  and  the  broad  technique  are  want- 
ing. When,  on  the  other  hand,  the  true  scholar  gives 

142 


himself  to  the  slightest  task,  there  is  magnanimity  in 
the  effort  and  its  results.  It  is  like  one  of  Turner's 
smallest  water  colors,  and  detains  infinity.  As  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  got  more  out  of  the  bones  of  Joseph,  which 
they  followed  in  funeral  procession  until  the  exodus 
ended  in  freedom,  so  the  scholars  of  all  ages  sing  a  pean 
at  the  grave  of  a  man  possessed  by  a  large  motive  and 
attaining  himself: 

"By  failed  darings,  fond  attempts  back  driven, 
Fine  faults  of  growth,   brave  sins  which  saint  when 
shriven" ; 

It  is  a  glad  song  at  the  Grammarian's  Funeral : 

"That  low  man  seeks  a  little  thing  to  do, 

Sees  it  and  does  it: 
This  high  man,  with  a  great  thing  to  pursue, 

Dies  ere  he  knows  it. 
That  low  man  goes  on  adding  one  to  one, 

His  hundred's  soon  hit: 
This  high  man,  aiming  at  a  million, 

Misses  an  unit. 
That,  has  the  world  here — should  he  need  the  next, 

Let  the  world  mind  him! 
This,  throws  himself  on  God,  and  unperplexed 

Seeking  shall  find  him. 
So,  with  the  throttling  hands  of  death  at  strife, 

Ground  he  at  grammar; 
Still,  through  the  rattle,  parts  of  speech  were  rife, 

While  he  could  stammer 
He  settled  Hoti's  business — let  it  be! — 

Properly  based  Oun — 
Gave  us  the  doctrine  of  the  enclitic  De, 

Dead  from  the  waist  down. 

143 


Well,  here's  the  platform,  here's  the  proper  place ; 

Hail  to  your  purlieus, 
All  ye  highfliers  of  the  feathered  race, 

Swallows  and  curlews: 
Here's  the  top  peak ;  the  multitude  below 

Live,  for  they  can,  there : 
This  man  decided  not  to  Live  but  Know — 

Bury  this  man  there? 
Here — here's  his  place,  where  meteors  shoot,  clouds 

form; 

Lightnings  are  loosed, 
Stars  come  and  go !    Let  joy  break  with  the  storm, 

Peace,  let  the  dew  send ! 
Lofty  designs  must  close  in  like  effects; 

Loftily  lying, 
Leave  him — still  loftier  than  the  world  suspects, 

Living  and  dying." 

The  heroism  of  scholarship  is  shown  in  the  readiness 
with  which  her  true  knights  have  refused  to  defend  their 
own  errors.  The  amount  of  labor  and  the  quality  of 
sincere  enthusiasm  which  have  been  devoted  to  long 
investigation,  whose  end  was  a  brilliant  and  popularly 
welcomed  error,  is  as  sublime  as  its  investment  appears 
pathetic.  There  is  no  finer  heroism  than  that  which 
stands,  after  long  prospecting,  and  tunneling,  and  ex- 
pending of  means  and  toil  and  hope,  at  last  in  the 
possession  of  shining  fragments  which  the  world  is 
willing  to  make  into  current  coin,  the  tired  scholar, 
however,  hushing  the  acclaim  of  the  crowd  by  saying, 
"Friends  of  mine,  this  is  beautiful ;  it  has  been  won  at 
great  sacrifice,  but  it  is  not  gold." 

The  latter  part  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  had  no 
more  impressive  examples  of  this  heroic  truthfulness 
than  John  Tyndall  and  Thomas  Henry  Huxley.  Goaded 

144 


by  ignorant  ecclesiastics  while  in  fierce  debate  with 
scholarly  religionists,  Mr.  Huxley  was  never  more  heroic 
than  when  his  scholarship  paused  at  the  edge  of  ascer- 
tained facts  and  declined  to  proceed  an  inch  toward  a 
fancy  not  less  alluring  because  it  needed  only  his 
name  emblazoned  upon  it  to  make  it  serve  the  uses  of 
a  fact  in  a  noisy  and  confused  time.  As  we  survey  the 
history  of  the  growth  of  the  materialistic  hypothesis  in 
popular  thinking,  we  shall  see  the  stampeding  interests 
and  hopes  of  less  conscientious  and  less  reverent  minds 
rushing  against  this  man,  who  paused  upon  the  verge 
of  matter  only  to  look  into  the  significant  realms  beyond 
matter.  In  the  midst  of  a  discussion  which  would  have 
ruined  the  temper,  and,  therefore,  vitiated  the  intellectual 
fibre  of  a  less  noble  spirit,  we  shall  see  that  his  sensitive 
and  chivalric  scholarship  lifted  its  hand  to  give  order 
to  our  thought,  and  with  more  authority  than  any  other, 
his  voice  said,  "Thus  far  and  no  farther:  I  know  what 
lies  beyond,  but  here  shall  the  proud  waves  of  the  move- 
ment which  has  called  and  miscalled  me  its  champion — 
here  where  I  stand,  shall  they  be  stayed."  John  Richard 
Green  had  the  heroism  of  scholarship  when,  re-enacting 
through  the  long  hours  of  his  decease,  his  own  account 
of  the  death  of  the  Venerable  Bede,  he  said,  "I  may  not 
live  to  finish  my  history  of  England,  but  the  work  of 
publication  shall  not  go  on  until  I  may  acknowledge  that 
I  am  wrong  in  this  statement,  if  so  I  am."  Unheroic 
scholarship  alone  is  always  right  and  never  righteous. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  apparently  valuable  to- 
ward completing  that  scheme  of  thought  for  which  Mr. 
Tyndall  had  delved  and  climbed,  dredged  and  experi- 
mented for  a  life  time,  his  mind  constantly  growing 
in  the  conviction  of  its  truthfulness,  than  that  his 
apparent  success  in  proving  the  assumption  of  sponta- 
neous generation  could  have  been  called  real.  The  foes 

145 


of  a  life  time,  who  had  not  spared  him  the  vituperation 
which  too  often  excites  to  such  madness  that  the  intellect 
obeys  interest  rather  than  truth,  were  about  to  be  silenced. 
A  whole  army  of  friends  were  ready  to  applaud  the  con- 
summation of  his  labor,  when  he  turned  from  his  labora- 
tory and  said:  "It  is  not  true;  the  doctrine  of  sponta- 
neous generation  is  unsound."  Sublime  as  is  the  figure 
of  Wendell  Phillips,  it  must  be  said  that  he  distrusted 
the  demand  of  heroic  scholarship  when  errors  were 
pointed  out  in  his  well-nigh  perfect  discourse,  and  he 
declined  to  correct  them,  alleging  that  he  must  not  per- 
mit the  public,  which  had  begun  to  follow  him  in  his 
crusade  against  slavery,  to  suppose  that  he  was  wrong 
about  anything.  It  is  just  that  the  sparkling  rhetoric 
of  Macaulay,  in  which  so  much  gold  of  truth  appears 
without  alloy,  should  be  accorded  a  less  forceful  influ- 
ence, when  we  remember  his  refusal  to  state  more 
accurately  the  facts  with  regard  to  Sir  Elijah  Impey, 
and  to  continue  no  longer  his  picturesque  confusion  of 
Granville  with  William  Penn.  It  is  perhaps  inevitable 
that  we  must  have  a  glowing  and  antithetical  style  like 
Macaulay's  in  order  that  Englishmen  may  have  what 
Walter  Bagehot  insisted  they  needed,  namely,  the  edu- 
cation of  the  educated  classes  concerning  the  seventeenth 
century.  But  the  matter  goes  deeper  than  this,  for 
Michelet  and  Macaulay,  as  well  as  Carlyle  and  Gibbon, 
are  likely  always  to  be  open  to  criticism  that  with  their 
literary  style,  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  really  cannot  be  told;  and  the  worst  is 
that  the  style  is  the  man.  The  conscience  of  scholarship 
must  be  at  least  as  fine  as  its  intellect,  in  order  that  the 
highest  intellectual  results  may  be  produced. 

After  all,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  great  source  of 
scholarship  lies  in  the  character.  Scientific  investigation 
now  reaches  into  the  region  where  radium  meets  the  very 

146 


outposts  of  the  physical.  We  find  ourselves  upon  the 
very  verge  of  matter.  It  is  no  place  for  a  coarse  man. 
Only  the  finest  personal  character  can  record  the  results 
of  such  investigation.  If  a  man  have  within  himself 
a  confused  opinion  of  truth,  he  may  never  be  able  to 
see  and  record  those  most  delicate  gleams  of  truth  that 
necessarily  lie  beyond  his  ken.  If  a  man  have  any  interest 
whatever  in  the  results  of  experimentation, — in  the  retort 
or  test  tube, — he  may  well  find  himself  in  the  very  pres- 
ence of  truth  whose  only  interest  is  the  interest  which 
makes  the  throne  of  heaven  wide. 

Only  refined  character  can  touch  the  force  and  release 
the  energies  that  lie  ready  for  man's  highest  use  in  the 
coming  years.  Suppose  radium,  at  the  end  of  all  our 
scientific  culture,  with  infinite  and  long  processes,  has 
been  attained ;  suppose  that  we  find,  at  the  very  last,  that 
this  radium  maintains  its  influence  in  the  universe  by 
radiating — that  it  has  altruistic,  self-sacrificing  fervor, 
giving  itself  away.  Suppose,  now,  that  beginning  with 
the  lowest  life  and  coming  up  to  the  highest,  we  find 
that  the  program  of  experiment  and  development  is  from 
the  sponge,  that  takes  all,  to  radium,  that  gives  all.  Sup- 
pose that  we  know  that  only  a  tenth  of  an  ounce  of 
radium  exists  in  this  planet;  that  two  thousand  tons, 
two  hundred  thousand  tons,  of  dynamite  in  explosive 
power  lie  in  this  little  bit  of  radium.  We  know  that 
the  universe,  in  proceeding,  is  going  from  quantity  to 
quality.  It  is  a  constantly  refining  thing,  so  that  purity 
and  purity  alone  is  power.  Power  at  the  last  is  self- 
sacrifice. 

Here  we  stand  hushed  and  awed  upon  the  edge 
of  matter.  We  know  today  that  the  next  step,  if  we 
may  take  it,  must  be  taken  by  character  so  in  accord 
with  the  things  we  touch,  so  like  radium  with  which 
we  work,  that  it  radiates.  Here  is  the  heroism  of  the 

147 


scholar.  Here  at  last  we  see  that  all  through  the  uni- 
verse, all  the  way  up,  is  the  Cross.  Wherever  advance 
is  made  there  is  a  cross.  From  the  lowest  to  the  higher, 
and  from  higher  to  highest  in  nature,  until  we  approach 
the  very  outposts  of  matter  where  all  power  lies  in  self- 
sacrifice. 

Here  is  the  heroic  scholar.  Nothing  but  a  life  of 
self-sacrifice.  Nothing  but  devotion  to  the  principles 
of  the  Cross  shall  enable  the  scholarship  of  the  future 
to  radiate  its  power  with  all  those  symbols  of  heroism 
that  grow  in  the  garden  of  God. 


President  Perry:  Lord  God  of  our  fathers,  We 
pray  Thee  that  as  Thou  didst  bless  our  fathers  in  laying 
the  foundations,  so  Thou  wilt  bless  us  of  later  years  in 
building  upon  them — that  the  sons  and  fathers  may 
rejoice  together. 

And  may  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  love  of  God  the  Father  and  the  fellowship  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  be  with  you  all  evermore.  Amen. 


148 


WEDNESDAY  AFTERNOON,  JUNE   15 

PUBLIC  MEETING,   MUSKINGUM   PARK, 
MARIETTA,  OHIO. 


ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  WILLIAM  H.  TAFT. 


The  Hon.  Charles  S.  Dana  acted  as  chairman,  and, 
in  introducing  the  President,  said:  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men, the  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  President:     My  Fellow  Citizens: 

To  a  man  who  is  Ohio  born,  who  has  enjoyed  the 
benefits  of  the  system  of  public  education  of  the  state 
and  the  guaranties  of  life,  liberty,  and  property  secured 
by  its  fundamental  law,  and  the  benefit  of  the  associa- 
tion with  its  people,  and  the  cultivation  of  their  ideals 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty  and  civic  righteousness 
there  can  be  no  spot  more  sacred,  no  one  which  crowds 
his  mind  with  more  grateful  memories  and  pardonable 
pride  of  birth  than  the  town  of  Marietta. 

Today  is  set  apart  as  the  memorial  of  seventy-five 
years  of  Marietta  College — of  her  Diamond  Jubilee.  But 
the  College  is  so  much  a  part  of  the  town  and  the  town 
of  the  College,  that  it  is  impossible  to  celebrate  a  mem- 
orial of  the  one  without  including  the  other.  And  so  we 
have  here  the  union  of  the  home-coming  to  Marietta  and 
this  important  anniversary  in  the  life  of  an  institution 
of  learning  which  typifies  in  the  best'  way  a  class  of 
colleges  that  has  done  much  in  the  education  and  ele- 
vation of  the  civilization  of  America — I  mean  the  small 
colleges. 

149 


As  we  study  the  history  of  the  settlement  of  Marietta, 
and  the  growth  of  the  Northwest  Territory  which  fol- 
lowed, we  must  be  very  thankful  that  every  circumstance 
seemed  to  make  for  the  birth  of  a  great  western  empire 
under  a  government  of  the  highest  ideals,  and  the  most 
practical  provision  for  their  beneficial  practice  and  the 
foundation  of  a  system  of  public  education  that  is  in  full 
force  and  effect,  and  shows  itself  in  the  character  of  the 
people  and  the  government  of  today. 

The  settlement  of  Marietta  was  exceptional  beyond 
anything  in  the  history  of  this  country,  in  the  happy 
union  of  the  highest  type  of  settlers  and  of  a  form  of 
government  under  the  most  advanced  and  liberal  prin- 
ciples of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

The  movement  to  settle  Marietta  and  Ohio  by  the 
Ohio  Company  was  at  the  same  time  the  cause  and  effect 
of  the  adoption  of  the  greatest  instrument  of  fundamental 
law,  except  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which 
has  ever  been  enacted  by  man.  It  is  quite  clear  that 
but  for  the  energy  of  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler  and  his  asso- 
ciates, the  ordinance  would  not  have  been  enacted;  and 
even  if  enacted,  might  not  have  contained  some  of  the 
provisions  which  give  it  its  chief  elements  of  greatness. 
He  united,  with  the  knowledge  of  statesmanship  and 
profound  appreciation  of  liberty,  and  the  necessity  for 
its  guaranties,  the  shrewd  Yankee  sense  which  made  him 
understand  that  the  character  of  the  government  and  of 
the  civilization  that  he  was  about  to  found  would  have 
a  very  great  influence  in  the  disposition  of  the  land 
which  the  Ohio  Company  purchased  and  in  its  successful 
settlement.  It  was  this  union  of  patriotic,  high  ideals 
with  that  far-sighted  business  sense  that  gave  to  the 
Ordinance  of  1787  its  distinctive  feature.  The  members 
of  the  Continental  Congress,  in  which  the  ordinance  was 
passed,  were  some  of  them  members  of  the  Constitutional 

150 


Convention,  and  all  of  them  most  interested  in  the  dis- 
cussion which  followed  the  submission  of  that  instrument 
to  the  people  of  the  states.  And  hence,  while  we  may  say 
that  the  ordinance  preceded  the  constitution  in  its  adop- 
tion by  two  years,  we  may  also  truly  say  that  the  two 
instruments  were  twin-born,  and  that  the  Ordinance  of 
1787  had  the  advantage  in  that  it  was  the  work  of  prac- 
tical statesmen  who  were  dealing  with  an  entirely  new 
country  about  to  be  settled,  with  no  institutions  of  evil 
tendency  and  no  vested  interests  in  civic  abuses,  and  who 
thus  wrote  upon  a  tabula  rasa,  and  were  able  to  put  their 
practical  ideals  into  the  form  of  law;  while  the  makers 
of  the  constitution  had  to  deal  with  thirteen  states  with 
differing  interests,  with  existing  abuses,  and  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  firmly  imbedded  in  the  social  system 
of  half  of  them. 

Perhaps  the  most  fortunate  circumstance  that  at- 
tended the  birth  of  the  Northwest  Territory  in  the  form 
of  this  Ordinance  of  1787  was  the  fact  that  while  slavery 
was  a  recognized  institution  in  nearly  all  the  states,  it 
had  not  yet  reached  that  stage  in  its  development  in  the 
Southern  States  in  which  it  was  full  of  profit  to  those 
who  enjoyed  it,  and  seemed  indispensable  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  wealth  in  the  growth  of  cotton.  Had  the 
formation  of  the  Northwest  Territory  been  delayed  until 
that  time,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  question  whether 
slavery  should  prevail  in  that  territory  would  have  been 
an  occasion  for  bitter  controversy;  but  with  Jefferson 
and  Washington,  and  all  of  the  great  Virginians  and  the 
statesmen  from  other  Southern  States,  recognizing  the 
evil  of  slavery  and  anticipating  its  early  abolition  in 
some  way,  it  was  not  difficult  to  secure  their  assistance 
in  declaring,  as  the  Ordinance  of  1787  did  declare,  that 
there  should  not  be  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in 
the  territory,  with  a  proviso  that  any  escaping  slave  from 
one  of  the  original  states  might  be  lawfully  reclaimed. 

151 


In  previous  attempts  to  enact  an  ordinance  which 
would  be  satisfactory  to  those  who  settled  the  Northwest 
Territory,  Jefferson  had  been  the  author  of  a  resolution 
looking  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  after  a  certain  date, 
and  while  the  provision  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787  may 
properly  be  traced  to  Nathan  Dane,  of  Massachusetts,  as 
its  author,  it  is  certain  that  the  adoption  of  the  resolution 
was  in  accord  with  the  views  and  the  result  of  the  advo- 
cacy of  substantially  all  the  representatives  of  all  the 
states,  whether  slave  or  free. 

This  is  the  more  noteworthy  because  the  Northwest 
Territory  was  the  result  of  the  cession  chiefly  of  Virginia 
and  the  Southern  States,  and  it  therefore  changed  the 
character  of  the  soil  from  what  it  had  been  had  it  con- 
tinued a  part  of  the  Old  Dominion. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  through  the  history  of 
this  clause  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  in  the  enabling  acts 
upon  which  the  states  of  that  territory  were  received 
into  the  Union.  Sufficient  to  say  that  the  influence  of 
this  provision  of  the  ordinance,  whether  absolutely  bind- 
ing or  not  upon  the  people  and  the  government,  did 
secure  freedom  from  slavery  in  the  entire  territory; 
while  the  subsequent  controversies  that  at  times  arose 
in  the  organization  of  the  states  as  to  the  abolition  of 
this  sixth  section  of  the  ordinance  illustrated  in  the 
strongest  way  possible  what  might  have  happened  had 
the  organization  of  the  territory  been  delayed  until  the 
time  when  the  issue  as  to  the  extension  of  slavery  be- 
came so  heated  as  to  absorb  or  minimize  all  other  polit- 
ical issues. 

It  is  impossible  to  consider  the  Ordinance  of  1787 
without  also  considering  the  land  grant  of  1785  and  the 
contract  of  sale  under  which  the  Ohio  Company  began 
the  settlement  of  Marietta.  Article  III  declared  that 

152 


ifr 


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i*rlli|3 


1 

1> 


IPJN 

1§1 

11 


r 


i 

jf  ||!  j| 


"Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to 
good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools 
and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever  be  encouraged." 
By  the  ordinance  of  1785,  Section  16,  a  mile  square  in 
every  township  was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  education; 
that  is,  a  thirty-sixth  part  of  the  whole  territory  in  land 
was  provided  for  the  maintenance  of  public  schools. 
Now  a  lot  No.  29  in  each  township  was  given  perpet- 
ually for  the  purpose  of  religion,  while  two  whole  town- 
ships out  of  the  tract  were  given  perpetually  for  the 
purpose  of  a  university,  and  were  to  be  laid  off  as  near 
the  center  of  the  tract  as  might  be,  so  they  should  be  of 
good  land. 

What  strikes  one  most  forcibly  in  connection  with 
this  and  other  features  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787  was  the 
extremely  practical  nature  of  the  provision.  It  was  a 
land  contract  as  well  as  an  instrument  of  government, 
and  it  was  framed  with  a  view  to  the  successful  develop- 
ment of  a  land  investment ;  but  that  view  was  based  on  the 
premise  that  whatever  tended  to  the  moral  and  intellect- 
ual elevation  of  the  community  must  necessarily  assist 
in  the  commercial  success  of  the  project.  This  practical 
feature  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  as  distinguished  from 
mere  declarations  of  high  principle,  without  any  pro- 
vision for  its  enforcement,  is  peculiarly  English  and 
Anglo-Saxon,  and  distinguishes  this  Ordinance  of  1787 
as  it  does  Magna  Charta,  the  Petition  of  Right,  and  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  from  the  declarations 
in  favor  of  liberty  and  the  ideals  of  proper  government 
in  countries  where  the  civil  law  prevails.  Here,  accom- 
panying declarations  in  favor  of  religion,  morality,  and 
education,  were  contract  donations  of  valuable  land  and 
a  large  amount  of  it,  which  insured  a  fund  in  the  future 
from  which  the  ideals  declared  could  be  fully  realized. 
The  same  feature  characterizes  Article  II,  which  guar- 

153 


antees  to  the  inhabitants  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  trial 
by  jury,  proportional  representation  in  the  legislature, 
and  the  privileges  of  the  common  law,  and  concludes  with 
the  declaration  "  that  no  law  ought  ever  be  made  or 
have  force  in  the  said  territory  that  shall  in  any  manner 
whatever  interfere  with  or  affect  private  contracts,  or 
engagements  bona  fide,  and  without  fraud  previously 
formed.  " 

Thus  the  declarations  in  Article  II,  like  the  decla- 
ration in  Magna  Charta,  the  Petition  of  Right,  and  in 
the  American  Constitution,  are  declarations  in  favor 
of  certain  legal  procedure  by  which  the  experience  of 
the  subject  or  citizen  had  shown  him  that  it  was  pos- 
sible for  him,  through  the  agency  of  such  procedure, 
to  protect  his  own  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  property. 
These  guaranties  declare,  for  instance,  not  that  one 
man  shall  never  be  unjustly  deprived  of  his  property 
by  another  or  by  the  government.  It  only  declares  that 
no  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  property  without  due 
process  of  law;  that  is,  without  a  hearing  before  a  law- 
fully constituted  court  and  according  to  the  forms  of 
law;  and  that  in  most  cases,  that  is  in  cases  of  common. 
law,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  a  trial  by  jury,  that  he  shall 
not  be  put  upon  his  trial  for  a  felony  except  by  present- 
ment of  a  grand  jury,  and  shall  not  be  convicted  except 
by  a  verdict  of  a  petit  jury.  These  references  and  these 
restrictions  all  cover  procedure  and  not  abstract  right. 
That  is  what  has  made  English  liberty,  and  American 
liberty  derived  therefrom,  so  real  and  so  self-preservative. 

The  provision  forbidding  the  impairing  of  an  obli- 
gation of  a  contract  by  law  appears  in  this  ordinance 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world.  A  short 
time  later  it  appeared  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  said  to  have  been  suggested  with  a  view 
to  preventing  the  issue  of  paper  money  and  the  sealing 

154 


of  debts  by  such  a  process.  Whether  that  be  true  or  not, 
its  embodiment  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787  and  its  sub- 
sequent adoption  in  the  Constitution  have  been  of  far- 
reaching  importance  in  the  jurisprudence  and  in  the 
economic  development  of  the  United  States,  and  have 
tended  to  make  this  country,  with  its  democratic  govern- 
ment, with  its  preservation  of  civil  liberty  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people, 
perhaps  as  conservative  a  community,  in  respect  of  the 
right,  in  the  world. 

The  Dartmouth  College  case  gave  a  peculiar  sanctity 
to  the  character  of  corporations  as  a  contract  with  the 
government,  and.  led  to  certain  legislative  methods  for 
avoiding  the  rigidity  and  consequent  future  injustice  at- 
tending a  perpetual  contract  of  incorporation.  On  the 
whole,  however,  the  preservation  of  the  sacredness  of 
the  contract  obligation  in  the  laws  of  this  country  has 
done  much  to  give  stability  to  our  business  and  to  increase 
the  confidence  of  investors  and  the  consequent  risking 
of  capital  and  the  marvelous  development  of  our  whole 
country.  And  thus  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  in  providing 
for  religious  freedom,  in  guaranteeing  the  rights  of  life, 
liberty,  and  property  in  a  greater  degree  than  any  pre- 
vious governmental  compact,  and  the  practical  provi- 
sion for  the  perpetuation  of  public  education  and  religion 
and  morality,  entitle  it  to  the  encomiums  that  have  been 
pronounced  upon  it  by  all  statesmen  who  have  studied  its 
terms.  The  ordinance  is  a  proper  source  of  pride  to 
Marietta  and  her  people  as  having  been  the  original 
cause  and  effect  of  that  great  instrument.  It  determined 
forever  the  character  of  the  future  governments,  and 
shaped  in  many  respects  the  fate  of  the  peoples  who 
were  to  inhabit  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  and  Wisconsin.  Indeed,  it  had  great  influence 

155 


on  the  governments  of  all  the  Western  States  beyond 
the  Mississippi  that  were  subsequently  settled  by  emi- 
grants from  those  states  of  the  Northwest  Territory. 

Marietta  was  the  gateway  through  which  the  democ- 
racy of  Puritan  New  England  found  its  way  into  the 
northwest;  and  well  may  those  descended  from  this  set- 
tlement cherish  the  great  memories  that  it  properly 
awakens  in  those  who  understand  the  history  of  this 
country  and  are  able  to  trace  the  great  currents  which 
have  determined  its  character,  its  growth,  and  its  in- 
fluence. 

The  men  who  came  into  Ohio  at  Marietta  were  men 
who  had  served  their  country  in  the  War  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  had  established  their  claim  to  the  gratitude 
of  their  fellow-citizens,  and  had  made  deep  the  impress 
of  their  personality  upon  their  kind.  Washington  and 
Lafayette  recognized  them  as  comrades  in  arms,  entitled 
to  their  respect  and  their  confidence.  The  families  which 
they  founded  at  Marietta  continue  to  be  prominent  in 
the  State  of  Ohio,  and  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
stock  scattered  over  the  western  country  may  well  be 
profoundly  grateful  that  they  can  trace  their  lineage 
back  to  Marietta,  and  make  their  return  to  this  beautiful 
old  town  a  veritable  home-coming.  Its  traditions,  its 
associations,  its  history,  suggest  the  highest  ideals  of 
citizenship,  of  morality,  of  religion,  and  of  education. 
There  could  not  be  a  better  instance  of  true  aristocracy 
than  that  formed  by  the  families  of  the  original  settlers 
who  made  Marietta. 

Great  wealth  has  not  invaded  the  precincts  of  the 
town;  commerce  and  manufactures  have  not  here  ex- 
panded so  as  to  cloud  the  sky,  concentrate  the  population, 
and  enrich  some  of  its  inhabitants.  The  influence  of  the 
atmosphere  that  surrounded  the  first  settlers  continues. 
Simple  living,  clear  thinking,  high  ideals  in  comparative 

156 


comfort,  but  without  luxury,  prevail.  Lived  in  these 
academic  shades  lives  of  philosophic  contentment,  of 
pecuniary  self-sacrifice  and  the  noblest  associations  and 
traditions  and  of  civic  righteousness  are  manifest. 

Coming  now  to  the  immediate  cause  of  this  memorial, 
the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Marietta 
College,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Marietta  College 
had  its  birth  with  the  settlement  of  Marietta.  It  was 
there  in  embryo.  It  was  there  in  the  determination  of 
the  settlers  to  provide  for  public  education,  not  only  of 
a  primary  and  secondary,  but  also  of  a  collegiate 
character. 

Within  the  first  decade  after  the  settlement  was  estab- 
lished the  first  collegiate  school  for  higher  education 
in  the  Northwest  Territory,  under  the  name  of  the  Mus- 
kingum  Academy,  in  which  Latin  and  Greek  were  taught, 
and  the  principal  of  which  was  a  grandson  of  Israel 
Putnam  and  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1793  of  Yale. 
Muskingum  Academy,  as  it  was  called,  continued  its 
useful  career  in  the  preparation  of  men  for  a  higher 
academical  education  through  various  vicissitudes,  was 
succeeded  by  a  collegiate  school  and  seminary  under 
Mr.  Bingham,  until  in  1835,  under  a  charter  for  a  college, 
the  institution  whose  seventy-fifth  birthday  we  celebrate 
today,  began  its  full  existence.  It  was  not  the  first  of 
the  small  colleges,  but  a  type  and  the  best  type  of  them. 
Its  trustees  and  its  presidents  and  its  professors,  imbued 
with  the  traditions  and  the  associations  of  Marietta  and 
her  settlement,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  love  of  edu- 
cation which  the  founders  of  the  settlement  brought  with 
them,  have  preserved  their  original  ambitions,  and  have 
made  this  one  of  the  model  small  colleges  of  the  country. 
They  have  not  striven  to  be  a  university;  they  have  not 
made  broad  advertisement  or  intense  effort  to  bring  many 
youths  within  their  academic  shades  and  to  increase  the 

157 


classes  beyond  the  possibilities  of  the  foundation, — 
and  therefore  beyond  the  possibilities  of  a  thorough 
education, — but  they  have  set  high  the  standard  of  col- 
legiate education,  have  brought  the  students  close  to  the 
professors,  and  by  long  terms  of  professors  and  the 
presidents  they  have  preserved  the  original  traditions 
of  the  College  and  never  lost  the  influence  of  the  earnest- 
ness and  high  purpose  of  the  founders  of  Marietta.  It 
is  not  essential — it  is  not  appropriate — for  me  to  discuss 
what  advantages  there  may  be  in  the  attendance  upon 
a  large  university  for  those  who  enjoy  the  privilege. 
It  is  appropriate  to  point  out  the  peculiar  advantages  in 
the  acquisition  of  a  thorough  collegiate  education  which 
the  personal  touch  of  the  earnest  professor  and  instructor 
gives  to  the  student  who  enjoys  it.  The  opportunity  to 
assist  in  the  formation  of  character,  which  constant  asso- 
ciation with  the  noble  men  who  make  and  have  made  the 
faculty  affords  to  the  student  of  Marietta,  is  well  illus- 
trated in  the  high  achievements  and  the  sturdy  qualities 
of  her  graduates. 

I  am  a  son  of  Ohio,  and  I  like  to  believe  that  the 
whole  State  of  Ohio — her  population,  her  educational 
system,  her  laws,  her  jurisprudence,  and  everything 
else  that  has  made  her  distinguished  among  the  states 
of  the  Union — has  preserved  the  color  and  the  peculiar 
excellence  of  that  little  society  which  settled  Marietta, 
and  which  continues  it  today — a  gem  among  the  com- 
munities of  a  great  state,  still  setting  high  the  standard 
of  simple  living,  of  morality,  of  religion,  and  of  public 
education. 


158 


WEDNESDAY  AFTERNOON,  JUNE  15 

CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 

CELEBRATION  OF  THE  FOUNDING  OF  MUS- 
KINGUM  ACADEMY   IN   1797. 


At  the  conclusion  of  the  public  meeting  on  the  park, 
President  Taft  was  conducted  to  the  church.  There  a 
small  academic  procession  was  formed,  consisting  of  the 
President  and  President  Perry,  Capt.  Butts,  and  Mr. 
W.  W.  Mills,  and  Professors  Chamberlin  and  Phillips. 
The  audience  rose  as  the  party  moved  up  the  aisle. 

President  Perry  opened  the  meeting  by  offering 
prayer  as  follows:  Lord  God  of  our  fathers,  Thy  name 
we  bless.  As  Thou  hast  led  them  in  the  days  that  are 
past,  so  we  pray  that  Thou  wilt  now  lead  us,  and  bless 
those  who  come  after  us. 

We  praise  Thee  for  this  great  nation  of  ours,  founded 
in  righteousness  and  knowledge  and  liberty;  and  we 
pray  that  these  states  may  be  bound  closer  together  into 
one  great  community. 

We  ask  Thy  blessing  upon  him  called  to  be  the  head 
of  this  people,  that  Thy  protection  may  be  about  him, 
that  Thy  wisdom  may  be  granted  unto  him,  and  that  Thy 
grace  may  uphold  him.  May  Thy  blessing  rest  upon  us 
here  now,  and  to  Thy  name  we  will  give  the  praise  for 
evermore.  Amen. 

159 


President  Perry :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Friends  of 
Marietta  College: 

We  are  met  here  this  afternoon  to  give  fitting  recog- 
nition to  an  historical  event  of  more  than  local  signifi- 
cance. Beginnings,  however  small  or  obscure,  are  always 
important.  On  April  29,  1797,  a  group  of  the  Marietta 
pioneers  met  and  formed  an  organization  to  build  an 
academy,  in  order  that  the  young  people  of  this  new 
region  might  have  the  benefit  of  classical  education. 
Money  was  subscribed,  plans  drawn,  and  on  the  lot 
adjoining  this  church,  on  the  north,  the  Muskingum 
Academy  was  erected.  In  1800,  it  was  opened  for  in- 
struction, the  first  preceptor  being  David  Putnam,  a 
graduate  of  Yale,  in  the  class  of  1793.  So  higher  edu- 
cation began  in  the  great  territory  northwest  of  the 
river  Ohio,  out  of  which  were  carved  the  imperial  com- 
monwealths of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and 
Wisconsin.  These  states,  with  their  flourishing  cities, 
their  vast  populations,  their  majestic  school  system,  their 
numberless  high  schools  and  colleges  and  universities, 
look  back  to  this  spot  where,  in  1788,  the  first  permanent 
settlement  was  made,  where,  in  1797,  the  first  school 
for  higher  education  was  organized.  The  roots  of  Mari- 
etta College  run  back  into  that  early  time  and  to  the 
Muskingum  Academy.  It  is  surely  fitting  that  in  our 
Anniversary  celebration  we  should  set  apart  one  session 
to  recall  this  beginning  of  higher  education  in  the  North- 
west Territory. 

Mr.  President,  it  gives  me  especial  pleasure  to  wel- 
come you  here  in  the  name  of  Marietta  College,  its 
friends,  and  the  citizens  of  this  pioneer  city.  As  the 
most  distinguished  son  of  Ohio,  as  a  friend  of  higher 
education,  as  the  chief  executive  of  this  great  nation, 
your  presence  here  today,  at  this  spot  in  Ohio  where 
higher  education  in  all  the  great  Northwest  Territory 

160 


PRESIDENT  WILLIAM  H.  TAFT 


began,  is  peculiarly  appropriate.  We  are  very  glad  that 
we  can  also  receive  you  into  the  goodly  fellowship  of  the 
Alumni  of  Marietta  College.  We  do  this  by  reason  of 
your  known  interest  in  college  education,  by  reason  of 
your  distinguished  services  as  lawyer  and  judge,  because 
of  your  broad  constructive  statesmanship,  because  by  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  expressed  will  of  this  great  nation 
you  are  our  honored  and  trusted  and  beloved  President. 
Therefore,  by  the  authority  given  to  me  by  the 
Trustees  of  Marietta  College,  I  do  now  confer  upon  you, 
William  Howard  Taft,  in  the  name  of  Marietta  College, 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Civil  Law,  and  bid 
you  enjoy  all  the  rights,  privileges  and  prerogatives  per- 
taining to  that  degree.  In  testimony  of  this  act  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  College  will  present  you  with  its  diploma, 
and  the  appointed  persons  will  invest  you  with  the  appro- 
priate hood. 


The  hood  was  then  placed  on  President  Taft  by 
Professors  Chamberlin  and  Phillips,  and  the  people 
cheered  and  applauded.  As  soon  as  the  hood  was  placed 
President  Perry  presented  President  Taft  to  the  audi- 
ence in  these  words,  "Ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  Presi- 
dent." 


161 


PRESIDENT  TAFT'S  RESPONSE  TO 
CONFERRING  OF  DEGREE. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  I  am  deeply 
grateful  for  the  honor  of  being  made  an  Alumnus  of 
Marietta  College.  There  are  a  number  of  reasons.  In 
the  first  place,  as  I  sat  here  and  looked  at  this  audience, 
the  fact  of  the  surroundings  in  this  Christian  church 
where  you  celebrate  your  commencements,  with  the  out- 
look upon  the  park  before  you,  I  could  not  but  think  of 
a  similar  ceremony  through  which  I  had  the  honor  of 
going  in  1893  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  that  the  ceremonies  were  the  same, — that  the 
atmosphere  was  the  same, — that  the  Yale  men  who  came 
here  at  that  time  to  found  the  great  Northwest  Territory 
had  brought  with  them  a  personality,  a  character,  and 
respect  for  high  ideals,  and  at  the  same  time  a  practical 
sense  and  a  Yankee  shrewdness  that  enabled  them  to 
build  for  centuries. 

In  the  study  of  the  history  of  Marietta  College  and 
the  town  of  Marietta,  connected  with  a  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  graduates  of  Marietta,  with  the  faculty  of 
Marietta,  and  with  the  surroundings  here  in  this  com- 
munity, there  seems  to  be  such  a  coincidence  of  fortunate 
circumstances  in  the  foundation  of  this  settlement  as  to 
prevent  our  finding  a  similar  instance  anywhere  in  the 
history  of  this  country  (applause).  To  think  that  fifty 
Revolutionary  soldiers,  coming  from  New  England, 
headed  by  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  could  elicit  from  the 
Continental  Congress  a  grant  of  the  beautiful  land  which 
was  here  given,  accompanied  by  a  provision  for  the  edu- 

162 


cation  of  the  people  and  for  religion,  and  could  wring 
from  that  body,  as  it  did,  one  of  the  greatest  fundamental 
instruments  of  government  that  ever  came  from  the 
brain  and  hand  of  man,  is  an  honor  to  make  one  solemn 
on  this  occasion,  and  to  realize,  as  we  stand  here  in 
Marietta,  we  are  facing  one  of  the  great  events  through 
which  this  country  has  come  to  the  greatness  of  its 
present  development. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  am  done.  You  have  a  way  of 
dividing  up  speeches  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  add  a  post- 
script to  a  letter  which  you  supposed  had  been  completed. 
But  I  will  close  with  a  repetition  of  my  grateful  appre- 
ciation of  the  reception  here  and  my  profound  gratitude 
for  the  conferring  of  this  degree,  which  I  assure  you  I 
do  not  take  as  a  mere  complimentary  formula,  but  which 
I  value  as  a  real  honor,  because  it  enables  me  to  take  my 
place  in  the  Alumni  of  this  institution  that  has  such  a 
magnificent  past,  and  I  doubt  not  will  have  a  most  useful 
future. 


163 


THE  OHIO  COMPANY  AND  EDUCATION 
IN  THE  NORTHWEST. 

By  Prof.  Henry  E.  Bourne,  of  Western  Reserve  Univ. 


President  Perry:  We  are  to  have  on  this  occasion 
of  the  celebration  of  the  founding  of  Muskingum  Acad- 
emy, a  historical  address  by  Professor  Henry  E.  Bourne, 
of  Western  Reserve  University,  whom  I  now  take  pleas- 
ure in  introducing. 

Professor  Bourne:  A  problem  of  singular  interest 
confronted  the  members  of  the  Continental  Congress  in 
1787.  What  their  decision  should  be  was  of  scarcely  less 
importance  than  the  conclusions  which  the  Federal  Con- 
vention was  endeavoring  to  reach.  The  problem  con- 
cerned the  spirit  and  principles  which  should  control  the 
colonization  of  the  magnificent  domain  from  the  Ohio 
to  the  Lakes  and  the  upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi. 
No  similar  problem  of  such  proportions  had  confronted 
men  of  our  race  since  the  days  of  the  Virginia  Company. 

The  Northwest  Territory  was  not  the  "back  country" 
of  any  state,  which  could  be  settled  merely  by  the  process 
of  adding  one  community  to  another  and  pushing  for- 
ward the  line  of  the  frontier.  Nor  was  it  possible  to 
repeat  within  its  boundaries  the  story  of  the  venturesome 
spirits  who,  with  rifles  instead  of  land  office  patents, 
established  estates  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  The 
character  of  the  region  was  yet  to  be  determined.  Ex- 
cept for  feeble  settlements,  relics  of  French  occupation, 
it  was  still  woods  and  wastes,  as  completely  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Indians  as  were  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic 

164 


when  the  settlers  of  Virginia  and  New  England  laid  the 
foundations  of  their  colonies.  All  questions  were  open, 
but  this  was  true  for  the  last  time.  The  character  of 
the  Northwest  Territory  would  determine  the  character 
of  that  farther  West  that  was  to  be.  In  the  history  of  the 
Republic  the  opportunity  was  unique. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  was  presented  in  the 
Ordinance  of  1787,  adopted  July  13,  and  interpreted  two 
weeks  later  in  one  important  respect  in  an  act  of  sale 
to  the  Ohio  Company.  Although  the  final  discussions 
took  less  than  a  month,  the  problem  had  been  considered 
seriously  even  before  the  terms  of  peace  had  given  to 
the  republic  this  great  territorial  prize,  or  Massachusetts 
and  Virginia  had  ceded  their  claims  to  it. 

Still  more  than  in  the  case  of  the  original  settlements 
on  the  coast,  it  was  hard,  practical  necessities  that  were 
spurs  to  action.  The  government  of  the  Confederation 
was  staggering  under  a  crushing  financial  burden.  The 
certificates  of  indebtedness  had  sunk  to  twelve  cents  on 
the  dollar.  At  times  there  was  not  money  enough  in 
the  treasury  to  pay  the  ordinary  expenses  of  administra- 
tion. It  is  not  surprising  that  Congress  early  came  to 
look  upon  the  western  lands  as  a  "capital  resource." 
After  .the  sale  to  the  Ohio  Company  had  led  to  two 
other  large  sales,  a  member  wrote  Monroe  that  Congress 
was  "now  looking  upon  the  western  country  in  its  true 
light,  i.  e.,  as  a  most  valuable  fund  for  the  extmctionment 
of  the  domestic  debt."  And  Jefferson,  when  he  heard  of 
the  sales,  spoke  of  the  lands  as  "a  precious  resource," 
"which  will,  in  every  event,  liberate  us  from  our  domes- 
tic debt." 

The  spur  of  necessity  was  felt  also  by  many  who 
wished  to  buy.  Officers  and  soldiers  who  had  been  paid 
in  certificates  looked  upon  the  purchase  of  lands  as  their 
only  means  of  obtaining  anything  like  the  full  amount 

165 


of  what  was  due  them.  Others  had  seen  their  fortunes 
dwindle  as  the  war  dragged  on,  and,  embarrassed  by 
poverty,  did  not  wish  to  begin  life  anew  amid  their  for- 
mer neighbors. 

But  neither  the  Congress  that  wished  to  sell,  nor  the 
men  who  wished  to  buy,  thought  simply  of  questions  of 
survey,  of  price,  or  of  security  for  payment.  If  as  long 
ago  as  the  granting  of  the  first  Virginia  charter  it  had 
been  necessary  to  assure  colonists,  in  the  King's  name, 
that  they  were  to  "have  and  enjoy  all  liberties,  fran- 
chises, and  immunities  ...  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as 
if  they  were  abiding"  within  the  realm  of  England,  it 
was  unlikely  that  men  of  the  same  race,  just  after  the 
conquest  of  new  liberties,  would  cross  into  the  wilderness 
north  of  the  Ohio  without  guarantees  at  least  as  specific. 
Washington  recognized  this,  but  he  also  realized  that 
"a  proper  republican  plan  for  this  great  purpose  is  not 
very  easily  laid."  These  words  proved  to  be  literally 
true.  He  did  not  draw  up  a  plan  himself,  although  he 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  matter.  His  great  concern 
was  that  the  country  be  not  "taken  up  in  a  loose  or  irreg- 
ular manner."  He  believed  that  "compact  and  pro- 
gressive settling  will  give  strength  to  the  Union,  admit 
law  and  good  government,  and  federal  aids  at  an  early 
period."  Jefferson  tried  his  hand  at  an  ordinance,  and 
so  did  Monroe,  but  neither  of  these  plans  was  adopted. 

An  extraordinary  scheme,  which  seems  like  an  echo 
from  the  story  of  ancient  Roman  military  colonies,  was 
discussed  among  the  Revolutionary  officers  in  1783  be- 
fore the  army  left  Newburgh.  According  to  its  terms 
Congress  was  to  turn  over  to  the  officers  and  soldiers 
who  desired  to  become  associated  for  the  purposes  of 
settlement  a  great  block  of  territory  north  of  the  Ohio. 
From  these  lands  were  to  be  paid  the  bounties  promised 
by  Congress,  and  there  also  additional  amounts  were  to 

166 


be  assigned  the  associators  who  proposed  to  remove  to 
the  new  country.  But  before  they  went  they  were  to 
draw  up  a  constitution  and  adopt  a  body  of  laws.  The 
exclusion  of  slavery  was  to  form  an  irrevocable  part  of 
this  constitution.  The  associators  and  their  families  were 
then  to  begin  the  march  to  the  Ohio,  fed,  clothed,  and 
armed  by  the  United  States,  of  which  their  settlements 
were  to  form  a  new  State.  From  the  sale  of  unassigned 
lands  were  to  be  provided  roads,  public  buildings,  and, 
it  should  be  especially  noted,  schools  and  academies.  It 
was  unlikely  that  such  a  plan  would  appeal  to  the  imag- 
ination of  an  impecunious  Congress.  Even  in  its  modi- 
fied form,  presented  in  a  petition,  and  commended  to  the 
serious  attention  of  Congress  by  Washington  himself, 
it  received  no  consideration.  Nevertheless,  several  of 
those  who  signed  it,  among  them  Rufus  Putnam  and 
Benjamin  Tupper,  did  not  lose  interest  in  the  idea,  and 
out  of  their  interest  grew  the  Ohio  Company. 

The  plan  of  the  Ohio  Company  was  more  practical, 
for  it  contemplated  the  purchase  of  over  a  million  acres. 
Jt  is  true  payment  was  to  be  made  in  government  certifi- 
cates of  indebtedness,  but  the  absorption  of  a  large 
amount  of  these  would  enhance  the  value  of  the  remain- 
der and  improve  the  credit  of  the  government,  as  well 
as  decrease  the  actual  burden  of  debt.  Still  there  were 
obstacles  to  an  agreement.  Congress  in  the  land  ordi- 
nance of  1785  had  fixed  the  price  at  one  dollar  an  acre, 
and  at  first  the  directors  of  the  Company  were  unwilling 
to  pay  more  than  half  this  price.  There  was  a  more 
serious  obstacle  to  the  success  of  the  proposed  settle- 
ment, even  if  the  terms  of  sale  could  be  arranged  satis- 
factorily, for  little  progress  had  been  made  towards  a 
scheme  of  government  for  the  Northwest  Territory. 
In  the  spring  of  1787  a  new  plan  had  been  reported  by 
a  committee  of  Congress,  but  nobody  seems  to  have  re- 

167 


garded  it  as  an  adequate  solution  of  the  problem.  For 
two  months  Congress  was  without  a  quorum,  and  when 
at  length  a  quorum  was  obtained,  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler, 
one  of  the  directors  of  the  Ohio  Company,  and  a  dis- 
tinguished man,  had  come  to  New  York  to  urge  the 
matter  of  the  purchase.  The  unusual  welcome  which 
he  received  from  the  delegates  was  evidence  enough  of 
the  importance  they  attached  to  the  negotiation.  Under 
the  ordinance  of  1785  seven  ranges  of  townships  had 
been  surveyed,  and  the  land  put  on  the  market,  but  few 
purchasers  had  appeared.  If  the  great  resource  was  to 
be  made  productive,  it  must  be  through  the  agency  of 
an  influential  group  of  men  like  those  behind  the  Ohio 
Company.  It  argues  the  perspicacity  of  the  delegates  that 
they  resolved  to  make  an  end  of  the  disheartening  delays 
which  had  attended  all  plans  to  organize  a  scheme  of  gov- 
ernment for  the  Northwest.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  one 
of  those  who  drafted  the  ordinance,  referred  to  it  at  the 
time  as  "a  measure  preparatory  to  the  sale  of  lands/' 
and  Nathan  Dane  wrote:  "We  found  ourselves  rather 
pressed.  The  Ohio  Company  appeared  to  purchase  a 
large  tract  of  federal  lands."  It  is  safe  to  say  no  im- 
portant instrument  of  government  was  ever  drawn  up 
more  expeditiously.  The  committee  having  the  matter 
in  charge  was  reconstituted  July  9.  The  next  day  they 
courteously  showed  their  new  plan  to  Dr.  Cutler,  who 
returned  it  with  several  suggestions.  These,  with  a  sin- 
gle exception,  met  their  approval.  Dr.  Cutler  was  evi- 
dently satisfied  with  their  attitude  towards  the  problem, 
for  on  that  day  he  set  out  for  Philadelphia,  without 
waiting  to  see  what  the  final  form  of  the  ordinance  was 
to  be.  The  discussion  was  concluded  and  the  ordinance 
adopted  three  days  later.  When  he  returned  he  found 
the  ground  cleared  for  his  negotiation,  but  Congress 
was  inclined  to  insist  on  the  price  settled  by  the  ordinance 

168 


\ 


ill 


of  1785,  and  to  refuse  other  concessions,  among  these 
the  gift  of  lands  for  the  endowment  of  a  university.  It 
was  only  by  adding  the  Scioto  speculation  to  the  pur- 
chase proposed  by  the  Ohio  Company  that  Congress  was 
finally  persuaded. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  upon  the  questions  touch- 
ing the  authorship  of  the  articles  of  compact  inserted  in 
the  new  draft  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  it  is  plain  that 
the  proposals  of  the  Ohio  Company,  brought  forward 
at  a  time  when  Congress  realized  that  a  beginning  must 
be  made  of  the  sale  of  the  western  lands,  and  urged  with 
singular  address  by  the  agent  of  the  Company,  was  the 
motive  force  which  drove  through  to  completion  in  four 
days  the  work  of  constructing  this  ordinance,  the  ele- 
ments of  which  had  hitherto  been  suggested  only  in  frag- 
mentary and  unsuccessful  projects.  It  is  also  plain  that 
the  desires  of  the  men  who  composed  the  Company  had 
weight  with  Congress  and  its  committee,  for  no  articles 
of  compact  had  appeared  in  the  proposals  of  the  earlier 
committee  discussed  in  May,  and  these  articles  did  appear 
after  the  agent  of  the  Company  had  had  an  opportunity 
to  talk  over  the  problem  with  the  delegates.  The  reality 
of  this  influence  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  Nathan 
Dane,  who  drafted  the  articles,  drew  their  language 
mainly  from  the  constitution  and  laws  of  Massachusetts, 
the  home  of  the  Ohio  Company.  To  have  had  a  share 
in  framing  so  noble  a  charter  of  colonization  is  a  lasting 
honor  to  the  leaders  of  this  Company. 

This  was  not  all  that  the  Ohio  Company  achieved.  Their 
project  was  something  more  than  the  purchase  of  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  acres.  Washington  understood  this  when 
he  wrote  to  Lafayette :  "Many  of  our  military  acquaint- 
ances, such  as  Generals  Parsons,  Varnum,  and  Putnam 
....  propose  settling  there.  From  such  beginnings  much 
may  be  expected."  After  Marietta  had  been  founded, 

169 


he  declared:  "No  colony  in  America  was  ever  settled 
under  such  favorable  influences.  .  .  .  Information,  prop- 
erty, and  strength  will  be  its  characteristics."  Such  a 
colony  would  secure  the  hold  of  the  United  States  on 
the  Northwest,  it  would  counteract  the  efforts  of  the 
British  to  retain  control  over  the  Indian  tribes,  and  would 
serve  as  a  shield  to  the  older  communities.  When  war 
with  the  Indians  did  break  out,  upon  the  Ohio  Company 
fell  at  first  the  burden  of  the  defense.  But  it  is  not  the 
general  work  of  the  Ohio  Company  for  the  Northwest 
that  may  most  appropriately  be  discussed  on  a  day  set 
apart  to  commemorate  the  founding  of  Muskingum  Acad- 
emy; it  is,  rather,  the  influence  which  the  action  of  the 
Company  exercised  upon  the  development  of  higher  edu- 
cation in  the  Northwest,  and  indirectly  throughout  the 
country. 

No  one  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  American 
colonies  would  contend  that  the  earnest  desire  to  pro- 
mote higher  education  was  a  new  thing  in  1787.  A  few 
years  after  Jamestown  was  settled,  Sir  Edwin  Sandys, 
then  the  dominant  figure  in  the  London  Company,  pro- 
posed that  ten  thousand  acres  be  reserved  for  the  found- 
ing of  a  university.  Boston  had  been  settled  only  six 
years  when  Harvard  College  was  founded.  Nine  colleges 
had  come  into  existence  before  the  Revolutionary  War 
began,  and  four  others  before  its  close.  It  is  not,  there- 
fore, the  idea  of  higher  education,  but  the  singularly 
effective  means  chosen  to  promote  that  idea,  and  the  de- 
termination that  the  university  should  mould  the  life  of 
the  community  from  the  outset,  rather  than  be  the  product 
of  an  eventual  appearance  in  the  community  of  a  sense 
of  intellectual  need.  In  the  thought  of  Manasseh  Cutler 
and  Rufus  Putnam  higher  education  was  an  integral  part 
of  their  scheme  of  colonization.  Dr.  Cutler  afterwards 
declared  to  his  son,  "The  establishment  of  a  University 

170 


was  a  first  object  and  lay  with  great  weight  on  my  mind." 
In  a  pamphlet  which  he  published  in  1787,  he  said,  there 
"will  be  one  advantage  which  no  other  part  of  the  earth 
can  boast,  and  which  will  probably  never  again  occur- — 
that  in  order  to  begin  right,  there  will  be  no  wrong 
habits  to  combat,  and  no  inveterate  systems  to  overturn — 
there  is  no  rubbish  to  remove,  before  you  can  lay  the 
foundation.  .  .  .  Could  the  necessary  apparatus  be  pro- 
cured, and  funds  immediately  established,  for  founding 
a  university  on  a  liberal  plan,  that  professors  might  be 
active  in  their  various  researches  and  employments — 
even  now,  in  the  infancy  of  the  settlement,  a  proper  use 
might  be  made  of  an  advantage  which  will  never  be 
repeated."  He  felt  that  the  influence  of  such  an  institu- 
tion would  raise  the  moral  and  political  tone  of  the  com- 
munity. "The  people  in  the  Kentucky  and  Illinois  coun- 
tries were,"  he  wrote,  "rapidly  increasing.  Their  dis- 
tance from  the  old  states  will  prevent  their  sending  their 
children  thither  for  instruction;  from  the  want  of  which 
they  are  in  danger  of  losing  all  their  habits  of  govern- 
ment." And  he  adds,  if  these  settlers  see  "examples  of 
government,  science,  and  regular  industry  follow  them 
into  the  neighborhood  of  their  own  country,  they  would 
favor  their  own  children  with  these  advantages,  and 
revive  their  ideas  of  order,  citizenship,  and  the  useful 
sciences.  .  .  "  Two  years  later  Rufus  Putnam,  in  a  letter 
to  Fisher  Ames,  alluding  to  the  intrigues  of  the  British 
on  the  north  and  of  the  Spaniards  on  the  southwest, 
expressed  the  hope  of  soon  seeing  a  university  founded, 
and  "such  means  of  education  set  on  foot  as  will  have  a 
most  favorable  effect  upon  the  manners  of  the  people 
in  that  country,  and  remove  the  danger  that,  in  a  state  of 
ignorance,  with  the  art  of  designing  men,  they  will  be 
always  under  to  mistake  their  true  interest."  The  means 

171 


by  which  the  Company  sought  to  put  such  ideas  into 
effect  were  destined  to  have  a  large  influence  upon  later 
educational  policy  in  this  country. 

The  leading  spirits  of  the  Company  were  determined 
that  included  in  their  bargain  with  Congress  should  be 
some  provision  for  higher  education.  It  had  been  mainly 
through  the  influence  of  Colonel  Pickering,  closely  asso- 
ciated with  their  group  at  the  time  of  the  army  petition  in 
1783,  that  Congress  had  been  persuaded  to  reserve  by 
the  land  ordinance  of  1785  the  sixteenth  section  of  every 
township  for  the  support  of  the  common  schools.  A 
copy  of  the  project  had  been  sent  to  him,  as  to  other 
men  whose  opinion  was  desired,  because  their  attitude 
would  indicate  the  probable  attitude  of  intending  settlers. 
In  a  letter  to  Rufus  King  he  expressed  his  regret  that 
no  provision  had  been  made  "even  for  schools  and  acade- 
mies." Rufus  King  was  on  the  committee  which  made 
the  final  draft,  and  which  inserted  the  reservation  of  a 
section  for  the  maintenance  of  the  public  schools.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  enclosed  a  copy  of  the  draft  to  Pickering 
with  the  remark,  "You  will  find  hereby  that  your  ideas 
have  had  weight  with  the  committee."  And  Gray  son 
explained  to  Washington  that  this  provision,  as  well  as 
that  for  religion,  afterwards  stricken  out,  was  intended 
as  "an  inducement  for  neighborhoods  of  the  same  re- 
ligious sentiments  to  confederate  for  the  purpose  of  pur- 
chasing and  settling  together." 

It  does  not  require  argument  to  show  that  in  1787 
Congress  would  consider  a  request  for  a  grant  of  land 
for  the  support  of  a  university  principally  in  the  light 
of  its  value  as  an  inducement  to  settlers,  as  a  means  of 
enhancing  the  value  of  all  the  lands,  and  of  increasing 
the  chances  of  their  becoming  a  "capital  resource"  for 
the  extinction  of  the  domestic  debt.  This  was  the  side  on 
which  the  Company  could  make  its  attack.  When  Dr. 

172 


Cutler  explained,  July  6,  to  the  committee  of  Congress, 
the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  proposed  purchase,  he 
asked  that  Congress  give,  in  addition  to  section  sixteen 

It  is,  however,  a  significant  coincidence  that  on  the 
support  of  religion,  and  four  townships  for  the  endow- 
ment of  a  university.  In  its  report  four  days  later  the 
committee  recommended  that  these  requests  be  granted. 
But  on  this  matter  the  committee  and  Congress  did  not 
altogether  agree. 

It  is,  however,  a  significant  coincidence  that  on  the 
same  day  another  committee,  with  partly  the  same  per- 
sonnel, prepared  a  draft  of  the  ordinance  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Northwest  Territory.  In  the  third  article 
of  the  compact  inserted  in  that  ordinance  are  the  well- 
known  words,  "Religion,  morality  and  knowledge,  being 
necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind, schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever 
be  encouraged."  Is  it  possible  to  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  the  influence  which  prompted  such  a  declaration  was 
a  proposal  of  purchase  before  Congress  emphasizing  in 
the  strongest  terms  the  interest  of  this  colonizing  com- 
pany from  New  England  in  securing  for  actual  settlers 
the  assurance  that  means  of  education  should  be  provided 
for  their  children  ? 

Even  with  such  a  declaration  in  the  ordinance,  Dr. 
Cutler  found  still  before  him  the  stubborn  task  of  per- 
suading the  delegates  to  translate  its  general  phraseology 
into  the  terms  of  a  specific  gift.  In  the  ordinance  of  sale 
which  was  proposed  July  19,  the  provisions  for  religion 
and  for  a  university  did  not  appear.  A  large  majority 
seemed  opposed  to  them.  Dr.  Cutler  was  on  the  point 
of  abandoning  his  efforts  and  of  opening  negotiations 
for  a  purchase  with  one  of  the  eastern  states.  It  was 
then  that  he  was  persuaded  to  add  the  inducement  of  a 
much  larger  purchase  and  to  reduce  the  request  for  a 

173 


university  endowment  to  the  gift  of  two  townships. 
With  this  modification  Congress  yielded,  and  ordered  the 
Treasury  Board  to  conclude  the  sale.  The  importance 
of  the  victory  for  the  cause  of  higher  education  can  hard- 
ly be  exaggerated,  for  when  once  this  concession  had 
been  made  it  became  the  standard  of  what  the  national 
government  was  expected  to  do  for  the  new  territories 
and  states.  It  also  served  as  a  hint  for  asking  other 
concessions. 

One  of  the  first  consequences  of  the  addition  of  this 
grant  to  the  Ohio  Company  agreement  was  its  inclusion 
in  the  terms  of  the  Symmes  purchase,  except  that  since 
the  Symmes  purchase  was  smaller  in  extent,  Judge 
Symmes  asked  that  "instead  of  two  townships  for  the 
use  of  an  university,  only  one  be  assigned  for  the  benefit 
of  an  academy."  It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  this  grant 
was  the  origin  of  Miami  University.  After  the  Symmes 
purchase  had  been  made,  Congress  directed  the  Treasury 
Board  to  continue  the  sales  practically  on  the  terms  of- 
fered to  the  Ohio  Company. 

The  degree  in  which  the  grant  of  townships  for 
higher  education  was  accepted  as  a  determinative  prece- 
dent was  repeatedly  illustrated  in  the  later  history  of 
the  Northwest  Territory  and  of  the  whole  country.  In 
1804  when  the  Territory  of  Indiana  was  divided  into  the 
three  land  districts  of  Vincennes,  Kaskaskia,  and  De- 
troit, one  township  in  each  district  was  "reserved  for  the 
use  of  a  seminary  of  learning."  The  territorial  legisla- 
ture proceeded  two  years  later  to  charter  a  university  at 
Vincennes.  When  Indiana  became  a  state,  Congress 
acted  on  the  precedent  established  for  Ohio,  which  had 
succeeded  to  the  management  of  the  two  university 
townships  given  to  the  Ohio  Company,  and  gave  the 
state  an  additional  township.  This  gift  was  utilized  in 
the  founding  of  a  seminary  at  Bloomington,  which  grew 

174 


into  the  University  of  Indiana.  The  same  story  of  Con- 
gressional grant  was  repeated  in  the  case  of  Illinois,  of 
Michigan,  and  of  Wisconsin.  Nor  was  the  consequence 
limited  to  the  Northwest  Territory.  When  the  borders 
of  the  country  were  pushed  beyond  the  Mississippi  and 
to  the  Pacific  coast,  each  new  territory  or  state  received 
a  similar  grant  of  "university  lands." 

If  there  were  not  danger  in  overloading  even  such 
a  precedent,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  argue  that  the 
Act  of  Congress  making  large  grants  of  lands  to  all  the 
states  for  the  endowment  of  colleges  of  agriculture  and 
the  mechanic  arts  was  one  of  the  results  of  the  educa- 
tional policy  formulated  in  1787.  As  these  institutions 
were  permitted  to  include  in  their  curriculum  other  scien- 
tific and  classical  studies,  the  grants  were  available  for 
general  higher  education.  It  would  also  not  be  extrava- 
gant to  argue  that  this  series  of  gifts  from  the  national 
government  was  the  greatest  single  influence  prompting 
the  states  to  the  generous  support  of  their  own  universi- 
ties. The  sagacious  step  of  the  Ohio  Company  had  a 
share  in  rallying  to  the  cause  of  higher  education  the 
liberality  of  the  great  communities  beyond  the  Allegha- 
nies.  In  the  older  states  the  college  and  the  university 
have  always  looked  more  exclusively  to  the  enlightened 
beneficence  of  individuals.  It  was  an  immense  gain  that 
in  the  new  states  the  burden  should  also  be  laid  upon  the 
resources  of  the  whole  community,  for  its  power  to  give 
can  never  be  rivaled  by  that  of  individuals,  however, 
generous. 

Since  the  leading  spirits  of  the  Ohio  Company  be- 
lieved that  a  university  would  exercise  a  formative  influ- 
ence over  the  character  of  the  colony,  they  cherished  the 
hope  that  it  would  be  established  at  once.  When  Con- 
gress proposed  that  the  university  townships  be  located 
in  the  center  of  the  double  purchase  of  the  Ohio  and 

175 


Scioto  Companies,  Dr.  Cutler  objected  on  the  ground 
that  "this  might  too  long  defer  the  establishment."  It 
does  not  seem  probable  that  either  he  or  General  Putnam 
felt  that  the  agreement  to  locate  the  university  townships 
near  the  center  of  the  purchase  should  have  as  its  neces- 
sary consequence  the  establishment  of  the  university  in 
one  of  these  townships.  In  an  entry  in  Dr.  Cutler's  diary 
for  September  3,  1788,  when  he  was  visiting  Marietta, 
is  the  statement  that  General  Putnam  and  he  climbed  the 
high  hill  northwest  of  the  Fort  and  west  of  the  city. 
They  noted  the  presence  of  fine  rock  for  building,  and 
Dr.  Cutler  added,  "It  is  proposed  that  the  university 
should  be  on  this  hill."  But  if  the  university  was  to 
be  established  at  once,  it  was  necessary  to  obtain  other 
funds  than  those  looked  for  from  the  rentals  of  townships 
not  yet  surveyed.  This  is  the  reason  why  we  find  both 
Cutler  and  Putnam  turning  to  Congress  for  aid.  In 
1789  Dr.  Cutler  wrote  Winthrop  Sargent  that  the  spirit 
of  emigration  from  Massachusetts  would  be  stimulated, 
if  "Congress  should  favor  the  establishment  of  the  Uni- 
versity. .  .  ."  Some  declarations  of  President  Washing- 
ton a  few  months  later,  raising  the  question  of  the  advisa- 
bility of  aiding  existing  seminaries  or  establishing  a 
national  university,  led  Putnam,  then  in  Boston,  to  feel 
that  the  moment  was  opportune  to  ask  Congress  for  aid, 
and  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Cutler  suggesting  that  they  proceed 
to  New  York  at  once.  But  these  ambitions  were  doomed 
to  disappointment.  The  financial  embarrassments  of  the 
Company,  in  part  due  to  entanglements  with  the  Scioto 
speculation,  the  dangers  of  the  Indian  War,  which 
checked  emigration  to  the  Ohio  and  kept  Marietta  in 
the  condition  of  an  armed  post,  chilled  many  hopes  for 
the  development  of  the  settlement.  One  of  these  was  the 
scheme  of  establishing  a  university  immediately. 

176 


For  Marietta  the  college  was  to  be  preceded  by  an 
academy,  as  was  the  case  with  other  colleges  created  dur- 
ing the  same  period.  Williams  College  began  in  1791 
as  the  Free  School  in  Williamstown,  eight  years  earlier 
Prince  Edward  Academy  had  grown  into  Hampden  and 
Sidney  College,  and  two  decades  later  the  Hamilton- 
Oneida  Academy  was  to  become  Hamilton  College.  The 
effort  to  have  instruction  given  at  Marietta  was  begun 
while  the  first  settlers  were  still  on  their  way.  Dr.  Cutler, 
General  Varnum,  and  Colonel  May  were  appointed  to 
care  for  this  matter.  In  November,  1788,  $200  were 
sent  to  Marietta,  and  Dr.  Cutler  wrote  that  this  would 
enable  Putnam  to  pay  both  "the  preacher  and  the  school- 
master for  the  present."  It  was  a  day  of  small  things 
which  had  great  significance.  This  sum  was  the  first 
installment  of  the  millions  that  were  to  be  spent  on  edu- 
cation in  the  Northwest.  Unfortunately  the  efforts  of 
J:he  Company  for  education  were  soon  cut  short  'by  the 
necessity  of  assuming  the  burdens  of  the  defense  against 
the  Indians,  and  it  was  not  until  1797  that  definite  steps 
were  taken  to  found  an  academy. 

The  same  interest  that  caused  the  insertion  in  the 
Ohio  Company  purchase  of  the  gift  of  university  town- 
ships, and  which  worked  for  the  immediate  establishment 
of  a  university,  created  the  Muskingum  Academy.  At 
the  head  of  the  subscription  list  to  provide  for  the  build- 
ing stands  the  name  of  Rufus  Putnam,  and  he  contributed 
nearly  one-third  of  the  whole.  It  is  significant  also  that 
the  first  preceptor,  as  the  principal  was  called,  was  David 
Putnam,  a  grandson  of  Israel  Putnam,  and  a  graduate  of 
Yale  in  the  class  of  1793.  Its  work  as  an  academy  was 
marked  out  by  rule  that  among  the  duties  of  the  pre- 
ceptor was  teaching  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages.  In 
addition  to  arithmetic,  these  were  the  only  requirements 
in  1800  for  entrance  to  college.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Cutler, 

177 


August  2,  1800,  General  Putnam  refers  to  the  academy 
in  these  words :  "The  Muskingum  Academy  at  Marietta 
is  at  present,  and,  I  trust,  will  always  in  the  future,  be 
supplied  with  a  master  capable  of  teaching  the  lan- 
guages. .  .  ."  He  adds  the  hope  that  it  will  "not  be  long 
before  Latin  schools  will  be  established  in  several  other 
places  in  the  Territory."  To  Muskingum  Academy  be- 
longs the  honor  of  standing  at  the  head  of  the  column 
in  the  advance  of  higher  education  into  the  Northwest. 

When  the  academy  was  founded  the  university  lands 
had  already  been  located  in  what  became  the  townships 
of  Athens  and  Alexander.  General  Putnam  was  also 
preparing  the  way  to  obtain  a  charter  from  the  Terri- 
torial legislature  which  convened  in  1799.  The  academy 
at  Marietta  was  then  looked  upon  by  him  as  one  of  the 
Latin  schools  which  should  prepare  students  for  the  uni- 
versity. Nevertheless,  in  the  course  of  three  decades, 
it  was  itself  to  grow  into  a  college.  Meanwhile  it 
changed  hands  two  or  three  times.  In  1816  the  Academy 
building  was  leased  to  the  Marietta  School  Association, 
and  Elisha  Huntington,  afterwards  lieutenant  governor 
of  Massachusetts,  became  head  of  the  school.  After  1828 
it  languished  for  a  time  until  the  Institute  of  Education 
took  it  up  on  a  new  plan  in  1830,  and  three- years  later 
organized  the  Marietta  Collegiate  Institute,  which  in 
1835  developed  into  Marietta  College. 

Muskingum  Academy  also  had  its  part  in  an  edu- 
cational movement  once  dominant  in  this  country.  In 
the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  for  the 
next  fifty  years  academies  were  founded  everywhere, 
modeled,  many  of  them,  upon  Phillips  Andover  and  Phil- 
lips Exeter.  One  of  their  great  services  was  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  public  high  school.  The  men  who  found- 
ed Marietta  were  especially  open  to  the  influence  of  this 
example,  for  most  of  them  came  from  the  regions  of  New 

178 


England  directly  affected  by  it.  The  influence  of  the 
movement  was  also  felt  in  northern  Ohio,  in  the  Western 
Reserve,  for  in  1803  the  Erie  Literary  Society  obtained 
a  charter  and  established  an  academy  at  Burton,  which 
became  the  precursor  of  Western  Reserve  College  at 
Hudson.  Before  the  outbreak  of  the  1812  War  again 
interrupted  the  efforts  for  education,  half  a  dozen  other 
famous  Ohio  academies  had  begun  their  careers.  Schools 
of  this  type  controlled  the  field  of  secondary  education 
until  the  fourth  decade  of  the  century.  By  this  time  the 
influences  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  an  English 
high  school  in  Boston  were  felt  in  Ohio,  and  soon  after- 
wards came  the  establishment  of  town  or  city  high 
schools.  By  1856  there  were  ninety-seven.  The  rise 
of  the  high  school  and  the  decline  of  the  academy  came 
long  after  Muskingum  Academy  had  grown  into  Mari- 
etta College. 

The  failure  of  Dr.  Cutler,  Rufus  Putnam,  and  their 
friends  to  bring  about  the  establishment  of  a  university 
immediately  after  the  settlement  of  Marietta,  by  no 
means  closed  the  connection  of  the  leaders  of  the  Ohio 
Company  with  the  university  project.  In  the  later,  more 
successful  attempt,  the  initiative  belongs  to  General  Put- 
nam, although  Dr.  Cutler's  influence  is  still  noteworthy. 
When  Putnam  was  preparing  to  petition  the  Territorial 
legislature  for  a  charter  of  incorporation,  he  wrote  Dr. 
Cutler  asking  him  to  make  a  draft  of  what  the  charter 
should  contain  and  to  put  this  in  the  form  of  an  Act,  for, 
there  was  no  copy  in  the  Territory  of  such  an  incorporat- 
ing act,  even  for  an  academy.  Dr.  Cutler's  reply  was  de- 
layed, so  that  the  project  of  incorporation  was  never 
brought  before  the  legislature  of  the  united  Northwest 
Territory,  for  in  1800  all  that  portion  not  included  within 
the  boundaries  of  Ohio  were  set  off  as  Indiana  Territory. 
Two  years  later  the  legislature  of  Ohio  chartered  the 

179 


American  Western  University,  substantially  on  the  lines 
of  the  Cutler  charter,  except  that  the  legislature  refused 
to  abandon  to  a  self-perpetuating  board  of  trustees  the 
management  of  all  the  lands  granted  to  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany for  school,  religious,  and  for  university  purposes.  In 
this  action  the  legislature,  so  far  at  least  as  the  university 
was  concerned,  did  little  more  than  carry  out  the  terms 
of  the  original  agreement  with  the  Continental  Congress, 
for  that  agreement  declared  that  the  proceeds  of  the  land 
should  be  applied  "to  the  intended  object  by  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  State."  At  the  same  time,  considering  how 
the  state  legislature  later  wasted  the  endowment  of  land, 
it  is  certain  that  the  university  would  have  been  served 
better  had  the  matter  been  entrusted  to  a  self -perpetuat- 
ing board.  When  in  1804  Ohio  became  a  state,  the  char- 
ter name  was  changed  to  Ohio  University.  The  first 
building  was  begun  in  1807,  but  for  several  years  the 
university  was  simply  another  of  the  academies  which 
were  springing  up.  Its  organization  marked  the  attain- 
ment of  one  of  the  cherished  projects  of  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany. 

The  influence  of  the  Company's  educational  projects 
is  not  measured  wholly  either  by  the  invaluable  precedent 
of  the  congressional  land  grants,  nor  by  the  actual  organi- 
zation of  Ohio  University.  It  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  first  legislature  of  the  Northwest  Territory  com- 
prised delegates  from  all  the  settlements,  and  that  if  the 
interest  of  this  legislature  was  aroused  in  the  educational 
scheme,  this  interest  was  likely  to  be  illustrated  after- 
wards in  the  action  of  the  legislatures  of  the  separate  ter- 
ritories. We  have  the  testimony  of  one  of  the  members, 
Judge  Jacob  Burnet  of  Cincinnati,  that  the  subject  of 
education  occupied  their  serious  attention.  Their  action 
also  argues  the  same  interest,  for  they  appointed  Rufus 
Putnam  one  of  a  committee  of  three  to  lay  off  a  square 

180 


for  the  colleges ;  and  suitable  house-lots  and  gardens  for 
a  president,  professors  and  tutors.  The  delegate  of  the 
Territory  in  Congress  was  also  instructed  to  procure  leg- 
islation securing  the  title  to  the  educational  lands.  This 
delegate  was  William  Henry  Harrison,  the  first  governor 
of  Indiana  Territory.  It  is  not  hazardous  to  suppose 
that  the  discussions  at  Cincinnati,  when  Van  de  Burgh 
of  Vincennes  had  the  opportunity  to  meet  men  from 
Marietta,  exercised  some  influence  over  the  Indiana  Ter- 
ritorial legislature  that  met  for  the  first  time  in  1805,  for 
at  its  first  session  it  chartered  the  University  of  Vin- 
cennes, the  endowment  of  which  was  expected  from  the 
proceeds  of  the  grant  of  a  township  for  the  Vincennes 
land  district.  One  of  the  first  trustees  was  Van  de  Burgh, 
and  the  president  of  the  board  was  Governor  Harrison. 
Like  the  American  Western  University,  the  University 
of  Vincennes  remained  for  several  years  a  board  of  trus- 
tees and  a  project.  It  would  not  have  attained  even  this 
status  had  not  the  legislature  found  already  at  hand  the 
grant  of  a  township  and  been  moved  by  the  example  of 
the  legislature  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  a  situation 
which  had  its  origin  in  the  plans  of  the  Ohio  Company. 
No  one,  however  zealous  he  may  be  to  honor  the 
Ohio  Company,  would  desire  to  forget  the  ideas  and  the 
efforts  of  other  men  or  of  other  communities.  Neither 
Manasseh  Cutler  nor  Rufus  Putnam  were  voices  crying 
in  the  wilderness.  They  were  simply  typical  products 
of  the  age  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  of  the  forces 
that  had  been  long  at  work  in  colonial  life.  The  more 
wisely  the  opportunity  which  they  helped  to  create  was 
utilized,  the  greater  is  the  significance  of  their  service. 
The  work  that  followed  was  not  merely  repetition,  it 
was  progress.  This  is  indicated  by  the  use  Indiana  pro- 
posed to  make  of  her  township  lands,  when,  by  a  clause 
in  her  constitution  of  1816,  she  made  it  the  duty  of  the 

181 


assembly  to  provide  for  a  "general  system  of  education, 
ascending  in  regular  gradation  from  township  schools  to 
a  state  university,  wherein  tuition  shall  be  gratis  and 
equally  open  to  all."  One  after  another  the  states  in  the 
Northwest  Territory  founded  their  universities.  Some- 
times these  were  followed,  but  often  preceded,  by  col- 
leges the  creation  of  individual  generosity,  or  of  the  self- 
denial  of  communities  and  of  groups  of  churches.  It  is 
in  a  spirit  of  appreciation  of  the  wisdom,  the  self-sacrifice, 
and  the  patient  effort  which  all  this  great  movement  has 
embodied  that  we  wish  to  remember  the  achievements 
of  the  Ohio  Company. 

If  from  that  hill  top  on  which  Dr.  Cutler  and  General 
Putnam  stood,  September  3,  1788,  one  should  gaze  out 
towards  the  northwest,  his  nature  must  be  cold  or  his 
imagination  dull  if  he  is  not  thrilled  by  the  spectacle  of 
this  great  sweep  of  noble  enterprises  for  education,  which 
purposes  like  those  they  cherished  have  since  brought  into 
existence.  The  thought  must  astonish  as  well  as  move 
us,  when  we  recall  that  all  this  achievement  falls  within 
the  short  compass  of  little  more  than  a  century.  Where 
else  in  the  world  has  such  a  stretch  of  territory  been,  not 
merely  settled,  but  made  the  rival  of  much  older  countries 
in  those  efforts  by  which  men  are  striving  to  reach  higher 
levels  of  life  and  render  them  accessible  to  their  children  ? 

The  founding  of  Muskingum  Academy  was  not  only 
a  beginning  of  great  things,  its  curriculum  was  symbolic 
of  one  of  the  permanent  values  in  education.  Writers 
in  after  days  have  ventured  to  question  the  taste  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Marietta  who  named  their  public  square 
Campus  Martius  and  a  principal  street  Sacra  Via. 
Shall  we  not  rather  see  in  those  names  an  abiding  sense 
of  gratitude  for  that  ancient  civilization  which  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  our  own,  a  sense  that  was  keener  a 
century  ago,  because  it  was  a  century  closer  to  the 

182 


Renaissance?  When  they  provided  in  their  rules  that 
the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  should  be  taught,  they 
did  more  than  conform  to  the  requirements  for  entrance 
of  the  colleges  of  the  day  and  continue  the  tradition  of 
the  older  academies;  they  also  declared  that  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Northwest  was  to  preserve  its  relations  with 
the  past,  that  within  its  borders  all  that  was  of  worth  in 
the  heritage  they  had  received  was  to  be  transmitted  un- 
diminished  to  the  generations  that  were  to  subdue  the 
forests  and  plant  the  prairie. 

And  if  we  recall  Dr.  Cutler's  enthusiasm  for  a  uni- 
versity which  should  undertake  scientific  research,  and 
General  Putnam's  conviction  that  only  through  education 
could  men's  minds  be  so  liberated  that  they  would  not  be 
exposed  to  the  arts  of  the  intriguer,  we  discover  that  the 
education  which  the  leaders  of  the  Ohio  Company  sought 
to  embody  in  their  project  had  the  three  principal  ele- 
ments which  any  sound  education  must  possess, — the 
transmission  of  the  best  that  other  generations  have 
thought,  the  furtherance  of  the  realm  of  science  by  in- 
vestigation, and  the  preparation  of  the  citizen  for  self- 
government. 


183 


GREETING  FROM  YALE  UNIVERSITY. 
By  Professor  Williston  Walker,  D.  D. 


President  Perry:  The  first  teacher  in  Muskingum 
Academy  was  David  Putnam,  a  graduate  of  Yale  Uni- 
versity, and  we  will  be  glad  to  have  a  word  of  greeting 
from  Yale  University,  represented  by  Professor  Williston 
Walker. 

Professor  Walker:  It  is  a  privilege  for  a  man  from 
New  England  to  stand  on  the  soil  of  Marietta,  which  is 
sacred  ground  for  him,  for  he  sees  a  region  of  which 
he  can  be  justly  proud  as  having  had  something  to  do 
with  the  development  of  the  great  Northwest.  I  may 
have,  as  a  New  Englander,  something  of  the  feeling  that 
affects  a  man  as  he  comes  out  from  his  comparatively 
secure  home,  proud  of  the  principles  for  which  that  home 
has  stood,  proud  of  the  manhood  there  developed,  and 
sees  the  son  who  has  carried  those  principles  to  develop- 
ment in  a  greater  field  of  usefulness  and  building  a  larger 
world  of  love — something  of  gratitude  for  what  has  been 
taken  from  his  home,  something  of  delight  and  pride 
must  come  into  the  mind  of  one  who  feels  that  experience. 

But  it  is  doubly  a  pleasure  to  be  present  at  such  an 
anniversary  as  this,  when  Marietta  not  merely  presents 
her  history,  but  when  she  brings  to  mind  what  has  been 
done  here  for  education.  It  was  here  by  the  side  of  the 
building  in  which  we  are  gathered  that  the  foundations 
were  laid  for  a  classical  institution  in  this  great  North- 
west. From  here  upward  went  that  movement  which  has 

184 


covered  this  region  with  schools  and  colleges  and  we 
have  learned  what  we  owe  to  those  pioneers  in  sacrifice 
and  devotion  of  whom  we  have  heard  this  afternoon. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  doubly  a  pleasure  also  for  one 
who  represents  Yale  to  be  present  on  this  occasion.  For, 
as  you  have  just  pointed  out,  David  Putnam,  who  first 
instructed  in  the  classics  and  who  headed  the  Muskingum 
Academy  in  this  city  of  beginnings,  was  a  son  of  Yale,  of 
the  class  of  1793.  Your  last  graduate  also,  of  this  after- 
noon, is  a  son  of  Yale, — the  beginning  historically,  and 
the  crowning  event  of  this  day  have  united  to  do  honor 
to  the  institution  which  I  have  the  pleasure  of  repre- 
senting. 

But  these  are  not  the  only  connections  of  Yale  with 
Marietta.  We  remember,  sir,  that  Yale  has  given  to 
your  faculty  men  like  Evans,  Mills,  and  Pinneo ;  men  like 
Douglas  Putnam,  for  62  years  the  Secretary  of  your 
Board  of  Trustees.  I  wonder  if  there  is  another  such 
record  in  the  United  States.  Men  like  Wicks,  long  pastor 
of  this  church;  Carrington  and  Moore,  and  many  others 
of  your  Board  of  Trustees  of  whom  I  could  speak. 

And  therefore,  on  behalf  of  that  institution,  it  gives 
me  great  pleasure,  as  its  representative  this  afternoon,  to 
present  you  with  an  address  expressing  the  gratitude  of 
Yale  University  for  the  honor  bestowed  upon  it  and  best 
wishes  for  the  future  of  Marietta  College. 

Just  a  word  more  on  this  occasion.  It  seems  to  me 
that  these  gatherings,  of  which  this  is  typical,  are  of  far 
more  than  local  significance.  They  represent  the  out- 
growth of  that  spirit  of  heroism  on  the  part  of  the  found- 
ers of  which  we  heard  so  eloquently  this  morning,  The 
Heroism  of  Scholarship.  Those  men  had  graduated  in 
the  school  of  heroism.  They  loved  their  country  and 
they  gave  their  service  for  its  liberty.  They  loved  their 
God  and  they  founded  institutions  for  His  worship.  They 

185 


loved  education  and  they  determined  that  they  would 
give  to  their  children  the  advantages  which  they  had 
possessed,  in  richer  measure.  We  stand,  every  one  of  us, 
in  debt  to  them  today,  and  only  as  we  carry  on  that  spirit 
of  sacrifice  and  determination  that  those  who  shall  come 
after  us  shall  be  as  free,  shall  know  God  as  truly,  and 
shall  have  even  in  richer  measure  the  educational  advan- 
tages which  we  enjoy,  shall  we  be  faithful  to  the  great 
historic  memories  which  have  come  down  to  us,  and  be 
true  to  the  trust  imposed  upon  us.  For  I  think  that  the 
university  and  the  college  and  the  academy  and  the  school 
never  were  so  needed  among  us  as  they  are  at  the  present 
time.  The  questions  which  are  before  our  American 
democracy  at  the  present  time  are  questions  of  unusual 
perplexity.  It  has  not  always  been  so.  There  were  times 
in  the  history  of  this  country,  times  which  we  heard  nar- 
rated so  eloquently  and  with  such  feeling  last  evening, 
when  a  man  could  shoulder  his  musket  and  decide  on 
which  side  of  his  country's  questions  his  interests  would 
lie.  Those  questions  were  comparatively  simple  and 
comparatively  easy  to  be  understood  by  every  right- 
thinking  person.  Not  so  the  questions  which  are  before 
us  today.  Many  of  them  are  of  very  great  perplexity; 
many  are  those  in  which  right  judgment  is  not  easy; 
many  are  those  which  call  for  investigation,  for  intelli- 
gence, for  discriminating  judgment,  for  careful  weighing 
of  conclusions.  And  it  is  the  man  of  training  who  can 
best  in  these  days  serve  the  Republic. 

I  am  not  unmindful  of  that  great  training  which  the 
world  gives  to  every  wise  and  intelligent  man,  which 
makes  the  world  the  greatest  of  all  schools,  but  after  all 
there  is  a  demand  today,  as  never  in  the  past,  for  men 
of  special  training  in  institutions  of  higher  learning — 
not  for  his  own  aggrandizement — not  for  his  own 

186 


achievement — but  that  he  may  bring  the  weight  of  train- 
ing and  careful  discriminating  intelligence  to  the  service 
of  the  Republic  in  the  questions  that  are  before  us. 

So,  Mr.  President,  as  the  head  of  one  of  these  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  honored  in  this  region  and  through- 
out the  United  States,  attempting  to  do  in  your  generation 
what  the  fathers  attempted  to  do  in  theirs,  I  convey  to 
you  the  heartiest  of  congratulations  and  the  best  of  good 
wishes  for  the  future. 


187 


GREETING  FROM  OHIO  COLLEGES. 

By  President  William  O.   Thompson,   D.   D.,   of  Ohio 
State  University. 


President  Perry:  Although  higher  education  began 
here,  it  did  not  stop  here.  The  State  of  Ohio  is  a  much 
be-colleged  state.  We  are  glad  to  welcome  here  to  speak 
on  behalf  of  these  colleges  the  head  of  our  State  Uni- 
versity, President  W.  O.  Thompson. 

President  Thompson:  Mr.  President,  Members  of 
the  Faculty,  Members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
the  Alumni,  Students,  and  Friends  of  Marietta: 

I  count  it  a  happy  privilege  to  stand  here  today  and 
express  a  word  of  congratulation  and  greeting  on  behalf 
of  the  Ohio  colleges  to  Marietta  as  she  comes  to  her 
seventy-fifth  anniversary  laden  with  decades  of  rich  ex- 
perience and  conscious  of  useful  'history. 

Marietta  owes  her  existence  to  the  spirit  of  the 
pioneers  who  settled  in  this  favored  region.  The  early 
names  of  this  community  go  back  to  the  ordinance  of 
1787,  and  were  associated  with  the  earliest  history  of 
this  commonwealth.  They  were  men,  too,  who  repre- 
sented the  very  best  New  England  spirit  of  that  day. 
As  early  as  April  29,  1797,  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of 
this  vicinity  was  held  in  the  interest  of  higher  education. 
The  building  that  resulted  as  an  outgrowth  of  that 
movement  is  believed  to  be  the  first  one  used  for  higher 
education  in  the  Northwest  Territory.  In  1832,  an- 
nouncement was  made  that  measures  would  be  taken 
to  develop  Marietta  Collegiate  Institute  into  an  entirely 
public  institution.  One  step  followed  another,  until  in 

188 


1835  the  legal  and  formal  beginning  of  Marietta  Col- 
lege was  provided.  In  their  preliminary  statements 
announcements  were  made  that  the  essential  doctrines 
and  duties  of  the  Christian  religion  would  be  inculcated, 
but  no  sectarian  doctrines  would  be  taught.  In  the 
report  of  September,  1835,  it  is  said  that  the  honor  of 
originating  Marietta  College  was  not  claimed  by  the 
Board  of  Trust,  and  that  its  existence  could  not  be 
ascribed  to  any  combination  of  individuals,  but  to  the 
leadings  of  Divine  Providence.  Among  the  colleges  or- 
ganized in  Ohio  perhaps  no  other  one  has  been  so  true 
to  the  ideals  of  the  original  founders  as  Marietta.  Its 
aim  was  to  be  thoroughly  Christian  while  non-sectarian, 
to  select  its  own  board  of  management,  and  to  perpetuate 
its  own  ideals  of  a  college  through  the  service  of  sym- 
pathetic and  intelligent  men.  For  sixty  years  the  College 
was  devoted  to  the  separate  education  of  men.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  gave  it  a  distinctive  character, 
and  brought  to  its  alumni  a  certain  enthusiasm  and  devo- 
tion arising  out  of  the  ideals  for  which  the  College  stood. 
A  personal  acquaintance  with  a  considerable  number  of 
Marietta  alumni  prompts  me  to  say  that  they  have  been 
men  of  public  spirit,  of  high  ideals,  conservative  in  tone, 
and  keenly  alive  to  the  progress  of  their  times. 

In  looking  for  the  secret  of  the  history  of  Marietta 
College,  one  is  bound  to  attribute  a  very  considerable 
credit  to  the  spirit  of  the  pioneers  and  to  the  spirit  of 
their  successors,  who  have  cherished  here  in  Marietta 
the  historic  spirit  and  a  devotion  to  religion  and  educ- 
ation so  characteristic  of  the  New  England  people.  It 
is  true  that  Marietta,  like  most  other  colleges,  has  had 
some  support  from  non-residents  and1  from  generous 
men  influenced  by  the  alumni,  but  the  local  enthusiasm 
of  Marietta  citizens  has  been1  fthe  most  encouraging 
feature  of  all  the  early  history.  It  is  a  matter  of  grat- 

189 


ification  in  which  all  the  Ohio  colleges  now  rejoice  that, 
in  recent  years,  the  Fayerweather  Estate,  the  General 
Education  Board,  and  other  generously  disposed  citizens 
have  made  large  contributions  to  the  material  welfare 
of  the  College.  In  extending  our  greetings  today,  we 
also  express  the  earnest  hope  that  the  effort  now  being 
made  to  add  a  definite  quantity  to  the  resources  of  the 
College  will  be  successful  and  officially  announced  on 
Commencement  Day. 

The  mission  of  the  small  college  during  the  nineteenth 
century  was  very  distinct  and  clear.  It  fostered  the 
spirit  of  sound  scholarship  and  generous  manhood  under 
Christian  ideals.  In  recent  years,  the  dominating  influ- 
ence of  mere  bigness,  as  represented  in  our  large  uni- 
versities, has  blinded  the  eyes  of  many  people  to  the  value 
of  the  small  college.  There  are  indications  of  a  change 
of  sentiment  upon  that  question.  If  the  small  college, 
true  to  its  ideals  and  traditions,  can  be  relieved  from 
unnecessary  anxiety  about  its  worldly  affairs,  there  is  no 
reason  why  its  contribution  to  American  life  should 
not  continue  to  be  as  important  in  the  future  as  it  has 
been  in  the  past.  A  score  of  well-trained  men  of  right 
ideals  and  chastened  ambitions,  imbued  with  the  proper 
spirit  of  public  service,  issuing  from  a  college  year  after 
year,  will  be  vastly  more  important  to  a  commonwealth 
than  a  great  herd  imbued  with  no  common  ideals  or  lofty 
aspirations.  The  danger  of  our  times,  so  far  as  educated 
men  are  involved,  lies  in  the  lack  of  their  spiritual  appre- 
ciation, of  patriotic  devotion,  and  of  their  intelligent 
sympathy  with  the  masses  of  the  people.  The  extreme 
individualism  which  marks  education  in  the  large  univer- 
sities often  fails  to  develop  a  common  enthusiasm  any- 
where except  on  the  foot  ball  bleachers.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  small  college,  while  not  destroying  individual 

190 


initiative,  has  presented  to  the  American  public  a  type 
of  citizen  scholar  who  readily  adjusted  himself  to  the 
demands  of  American  life. 

One  other  characteristic  of  the  small  college  which 
has  been  abundantly  illustrated  has  been  the  development 
of  public-spirited  men.  This  has  been  due  to  the  fact, 
I  think,  that  emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  education 
rather  than  training  in  narrower  lines.  The  spirit  of 
modern  education  has  put  undue  emphasis  upon  train- 
ing. It  is  a  matter  of  somewhat  common  observation 
that  men  who  receive  advanced  degrees,  unless  they  have 
an  interim  of  professional  work,  are  apt  to  be  over- 
trained, resulting  in  loss  of  initiative  and  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  most  valuable  elements  in  the  personal 
equation.  This  result  has  followed  the  over-speciali- 
zation of  subjects  of  study  and  an  effort  to  confine  a  man's 
intelligence  to  a  limited  area  of  a  great  subject.  The 
theory  that  a  man  might  know  everything  knowable  upon 
one  subject  has  resulted  in  the  dense  ignorance  of  a  great 
many  things  that  come  within  the  range  of  ordinary 
human  life  and  scholarship.  The  German  professor  who 
expressed  regret  that  he  had  not  confined  his  life  to  the 
Dative  Case,  has  been  followed  by  thousands  of  people 
who  wanted  to  avoid  such  regret,  but  who  have  filled 
the  minds  of  other  people  with  equally  profound  regret 
that  they  did  not  know  more  about  many  things,  and 
possibly  less  about  a  particular  thing.  Whether  the 
college  or  the  university,  and  whether  the  scholar  outside 
of  university  walls,  should  chase  infinity  is  a  debatable 
question.  At  all  events,  the  small  college,  by  emphasis 
upon  the  cultural  value  of  the  most  important  subjects 
of  human  study,  has  produced  a  high  class  of  public 
citizens.  This  same  citizen  has  had  broad  sympathies, 
human  interests,  and  the  courage  to  devote  himself  to  the 
public  welfare.  The  specialized  scholar  may  write  a 

191 


book  or  even  a  thesis,  but  it  seems  necessary  for  some 
large-hearted,  liberally  cultured  man  to  take  his  results 
and  put  them  into  action.  This  is  the  sphere  in  which 
the  graduate  of  the  small  college  has  made  his  great 
contribution.  He  has  learned  how  to  use  the  material 
of  the  world  for  its  betterment.  I  would  not  be  under- 
stood as  protesting  against  the  man  whose  ambition  is 
to  go  deeper,  stay  down  longer,  and  come  up  muddier 
than  any  other  man  in  the  world,  if  by  so  doing  he  can 
add  a  small  iota  to  the  sum  total  of  human  knowledge, 
but  I  am  trying  to  leave  upon  you  the  impression  that 
the  generous  manhood  of  the  liberally  educated  man 
is  even  yet  worth  while  in  our  civilization  and  will,  in 
our  judgment,  find  a  larger  place  in  the  future.  Of 
course  it  goes  without  saying  that  the  small  college  can^ 
not  sustain  the  real,  genuine  university  method  and  push 
the  limits  of  scholarship  beyond  the  boundaries  of  human 
knowledge.  Moreover,  it  is  not  necessary  in  a  pro- 
gressive civilization  that  every  institution  should  attempt 
this  thing.  American  universities  and  colleges  now  have 
a  great  many  men  doing  the  same  thing  other  men 
have  done,  in  the  name  of  research  and  scholarship, 
which  reminds  one  very  much  of  the  way  the  average 
boy  used  to  follow  copy  in  his  attempt  to  learn  to  write. 
America  needs  a  few  great  universities,  and  ought  to 
encourage  the  spirit  of  research  and  scholarship  as  often 
as  a  man  is  found  who  is  capable  of  doing  something. 
The  present  folly  lies  in  the  assumption  that  every  Doctor 
of  Philosophy  is  capable  of  research  work,  and  stands 
a  chance  of  adding  some  important  truth  to  either 
science  or  philosophy.  It  may  be  necessary  to  experi- 
ment with  a  thousand  of  them  to  discover  ten.  This 
only  emphasizes  how  expensive  new  truth  really  is.  The 
small  college  will  continue  to  devote  itself  to  educating 
young  men  for  useful  public  service,  for  high-class  citi- 

192 


zenship,  to  giving  them  a  spirit  of  sympathy  with  schol- 
arship, and  will  inspire  them  with  the  best  Christian 
and  social  ideals.  Occasionally  such  a  college  will  dis- 
cover the  future  scholar  and  send  him  on  for  professional 
training,  but  let  us  hope  that  he  will  tarry  until  his 
personal  character  is  beyond  the  power  of  complete 
effacement  by  devotion  to  the  specialized  lines  of 
research. 

Further,  let  me  say  that  it  is  in  the  interest  of  such 
public  service  that  the  small  college  finds  its  justification. 
Let  me  express  the  hope  that  its  field  will  be  more  and 
more  clearly  defined,  and  that  it  will  have  the  grace  and 
strength  to  withstand  the  temptation  to  forsake  a  credit- 
able history  and  an  inviting  future.  We  need  institutions 
of  all  kinds,  provided  they  are  all  honest  and  straight- 
forward, without  hypocrisy  and  without  false  pretension. 
The  small  college  needs  no  apology.  It  has  justified  its 
existence  by  the  work  it  has  done  and  the  men  it  has 
produced. 

I  speak  of  one  other  measure  of  the  college ;  namely, 
its  ability  to  do  the  thing  needed  in  its  day  and  genera- 
tion. There  is  a  marked  tendency  in  the  past  decade 
to  standardize  education  by  insisting  upon  certain  more 
or  less  academic  standards  of  what  a  college  is  or  should 
be.  Within  limitation,  this  effort  is  undoubtedly  wise. 
However,  one  needs  to  keep  in  mind  that  an  institution 
or  a  college  is  not  an  end  in  itself;  it  is  a  means  to  an 
end.  It  does  not  always  follow  that  the  technical  char- 
acter of  academic  requirements  are  an  adequate  measure 
of  education  or  of  the  service  a  college  is  rendering. 
We  should  not  be  forgetful  of  the  fact  that  the  most 
noted  institutions  of  the  country  have  produced  some 
of  the  finest  men  and  scholars  under  conditions  which 
would  not  now  be  tolerated  by  the  mathematical  exactness 
of  modern  academic  measurements.  It  remains  to  be 

193 


seen  whether  the  more  exacting  standards  of  these  days 
will  produce  either  a  more  accurate  scholarship  or  a 
more  generous  manhood.  I  wish  simply  to  enter  a  protest 
against  the  disposition  of  the  college  to  fall  down  and 
worship  at  the  shrine  of  academic  standards.  If  such  a 
movement  continues,  the  chances  are  that  a  reasonable 
percentage  of  our  best  men  and  women  will  be  developed 
independently  of  and  in  spite  of  the  mechanical  organ- 
ization in  some  of  our  institutions  of  learning.  It  may 
be  well  to  remember  that  there  are  some  things  that 
cannot  be  measured  by  the  scales,  and  that  there  are 
some  things  that  professors  never  can  find  out  by  any 
process  of  examination  yet  discovered.  Growth  in 
intellectual  power,  in  moral  fibre,  in  power  of  discern- 
ment, in  spiritual  appreciation,  all  these  are  conditions 
which  develop,  as  most  other  growths  occur,  in  quiet 
unobtrusiveness.  The  small  college  has  not  been  a  special 
sinner  in  its  eagerness  for  conformity.  It  has  rather 
held  itself  as  an  opportunity  wisely  administered  with 
some  consideration  of  the  individual,  and  a  willingness  to 
give  him  a  large  amount  of  personal  attention  for  the 
sake  of  what  he  may  become.  Let  us  hope,  therefore, 
that  the  small  college  will  continue  to  put  its  emphasis 
upon  the  importance  of  boys  rather  than  upon  the  courses 
of  study  and  units  of  credit. 

I  congratulate  Marietta  upon  her  past  and  upon  the 
auspicious  character  of  this  anniversary.  I  can  wish 
for  the  College  nothing  better  than  that  her  future  will 
be  filled  with  the  work  of  educating  and  developing 
broad-minded  citizens  of  high  ideals,  who  shall  represent 
the  best  in  American  democracy. 

The  benediction  was  spoken  by  President  Thompson. 

Now  may  the  grace  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  and  the 
fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  upon  us  and  upon  all 
the  followers  of  God  for  evermore.  Amen. 

194 


COMMENCEMENT    DAY,  -THURSDAY, 
JUNE  16 


GRADUATION  EXERCISES  OF  THE  CLASS  OF 
1910,  CITY  AUDITORIUM. 


PROGRAM. 

Music  by  Marietta  Orchestra. 

Invocation. 

Music. 

Salutatory  Oration,  "The  Relation  of  Chemistry  to  the 
Modern  World." 

WILLIAM  GERKEN  O'BRIEN. 

Oration  "Political  Education." 

*JOHN  LEWIS  BRICKWEDE. 

Oration,    "Government    Ownership    of    Telegraph    and 
Telephone  Systems." 

*NELS  CHRISTENSEN. 

Oration   "Mark  Twain." 

*MARY  McCABE  FROST. 

Oration "The  Poetry  of  Science." 

ARTHUR  REEDER  PROBST. 

Oration,  "The  Advance  of  Forestry  in  the  United  States." 

*BESSIE  MAE  PAINTER. 

195 


Oration   "Socialism/* 

*DAVID  REES  WILLIAMS. 

Master's  Oration "Law   Enforcement." 

IRWIN  GEORGE  JENNINGS. 

Valedictory  Oration. . .  ."Luxury  and  National  Decay." 
ALFRED  MORRIS  PERRY. 

Commencement  Address. 

DR.  ALBERT  SHAW,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Music. 

Conferring  of  Degrees. 

Announcement  of  Prizes. 

Benediction. 

Music. 
^Excused. 


President  Alfred  T.  Perry  presided  and  said :  We 
welcome  all  alumni  and  friends  of  Marietta  College  to 
this  Commencement  on  its  seventyfifth  anniversary.  We 
will  be  led  in  prayer  by  the  Rev.  John  R.  Nichols,  D.D., 
formerly  pastor  of  the  old  First  Church  in  this  city. 

Rev.  Dr.  Nichols :  Thou  infinite  and  eternal  God, 
Father  of  all,  Giver  of  all  gifts,  we  bow  in  grateful  and 
humble  recognition  in  this  hour  which  means  so  much, 
and  which  has  meant  so  much,  to  those  gathered  here 
to  enter  upon  the  serious  duties  of  life.  We  thank  Thee, 
our  Father  in  Heaven,  for  the  tender  and  delightful  mem- 
ories that  come  to  us  as  we  gather  on  this  anniversary 

196 


occasion.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  splendid  history  that 
has  intervened,  for  the  splendid  men  trained  in  these 
college  halls  who  have  gone  out  to  do  serious  and  im- 
portant work.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  occasion  when 
so  many  have  been  permitted  to  return,  and  we  rejoice 
in  the  auspicious  days  Thou  hast  given  us,  in  the  fair 
skies  and  beautiful  weather.  And  we  give  thanks  and 
praise  for  the  spirit  of  fellowship  that  has  characterized 
these  days,  and  for  the  joy  of  meeting  friends  of  former 
years;  for  the  spirit  of  enthusiasm  which  has  character- 
ized these  gatherings;  and  for  the  interest  manifested 
in  the  welfare  of  the  College;  for  the  promise  in  this 
gathering  for  the  future  of  our  beloved  institution. 

We  pray  that  Thy  blessing  may  rest  in  full  and 
rich  measure  upon  us,  and  we  bow  before  Thee  because 
we  recognize  Thee  as  the  giver  of  all  blessings,  and 
because  we  need  Thy  help  and  the  guidance  of  Thy  spirit 
to  do  wisely  and  well  the  work  we  have  to  do. 

We  pray  that  Thy  blessing  may  rest  upon  the  Trus- 
tees of  this  institution,  that  they  may  plan  wisely  for 
the  upbuilding  of  this  institution,  and  in  the  coming  years 
may  it  be  greatly  increased,  and  may  the  needs  of  this 
institution  be  abundantly  provided  for. 

We  ask  Thy  blessing  upon  the  faculty,  and  especially 
upon  those  who  have  finished  their  term  of  service,  and 
thank  Thee  for  their  fidelity,  and  ask  Thy  help  and 
blessing  upon  them. 

We  ask  Thy  blessing  upon  the  graduates  and  the 
undergraduates,  those  who  will  gather  in  the  coming 
years;  may  Thy  spirit  go  with  them  and  return  with 
them,  and  may  they  be  filled  with  new  interest  and 
enthusiasm  to  do  loyal  and  high  work. 

May  Thy  spirit  rest  upon  this  class  ready  to  receive 
diplomas,  and  who  are  to  go  out  into  the  world  to  enter 
upon  new  experiences  and  opportunities.  We  give  thanks 

197 


and  praise  for  the  preparation  which  they  have  received. 
And  we  pray  now,  our  Father,  that  they  may  go  forth 
in  this  power  of  the  trained  mind  in  the  service  of 
humanity  and  the  upbuilding  of  Thy  Kingdom.  Grant 
they  may  be  able  to  meet  and  overcome  the  temptations 
of  life,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  trials  and  temptations 
of  this  world  may  they  stand  for  right  and  truth  and 
the  ideals  which  have  been  inculcated  in  them  in  this 
institution  during  the  past  years. 

We  pray  Thy  blessing  may  rest  upon  those  who  shall 
receive  honorary  degrees;  those  who  have  come  back 
after  years.  May  they  find  delightful  fellowship,  and 
may  Thy  spirit  uphold  and  guide  them  in  life. 

May  we  learn  to  lean  upon  the  Everlasting  Arms 
in  all  things  requiring  wisdom  and  guidance.  We  ask 
these  things  in  the  name  of  Him  to  whom  shall  be  glory 
and  praise  for  evermore.  Amen. 


198 


COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS. 

By  Dr.  Albert  Shaw. 


President  Perry :  We  are  highly  privileged  today 
to  be  favored  with  an  address  by  Dr.  Albert  Shaw,  of 
New  York,  editor  of  the  Review  of  Reviews. 

Dr.  Shaw:  Mr.  President  and  Trustees,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen  of  the  Class  of  1910,  of  Which  I  Feel 
Myself  an  Adopted  Member  Today,  and  Ladies 
and  Gentlemen : 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  and  a  great  privilege  for  me, 
a  son  of  the  early  settlers  of  Ohio,  to  come  to  Marietta 
on  an  occasion  like  this;  a  great  pleasure  to  have  some 
little  part  in  the  celebration  of  your  anniversary,  and 
a  great  pleasure  to  see  these  evidences  of  a  happy  and 
prosperous  college  life.  It  is  a  great  difficulty,  however,  to 
feel  that  I  must  keep  you  just  a  little  longer — that  I  ought 
not  to  hold  you  here,  when  you  have  heard  so  many 
things  worth  hearing, — when  you  are  already  filled  per- 
haps with  the  speaking  part  of  the  commencement  pro- 
gram on  this  commencement  day,  and  would  like  to  have 
the  degrees  conferred  and  proceed  to  further  duties  and 
pleasures  of  your  commencement  celebration. 

But  you  must  let  me  say  some  few  things,  for  I  have 
come  some  distance,  and  it  is  impossible  to  come  to  an 
occasion  like  this  without  wishing  to  bear  testimony, 
to  some  extent,  to  the  greatness  of  the  historical  occa- 
sion that  you  are  celebrating  here. 

I  shall  not  say  very  much  about  the  Northwest  Ordi- 
nance. The  Northwest  Ordinance  here  must  be  about 

199 


as  familiar  to  the  boys  and  girls  as  the  great  papers  and 
documents  of  Thomas  Jefferson  at  Charlottesville,  Vir- 
ginia. I  have  two  or  three  times  given  a  Jefferson 
address  at  Charlottesville,  but  I  have  been  tempted  to 
give  more  prominence  to  my  late  friend  William  F. 
Poole,  the  eminent  historical  scholar,  critic,  and  librarian, 
whose  monumental  index  of  periodical  literature  you 
have  all  learned  to  use  in  your  college  work.  It  was  he 
who  rescued  from  oblivion  the  fame  of  Manasseh  Cutler, 
and  set  him  high  among  those  men  of  statesmenlike 
vision,  who  helped  profoundly  to  shape  our  destinies 
without  themselves  holding  high  posts  in  the  government. 

If  I  were  making  a  historical  speech  about  the  North- 
west Ordinance,  I  think  it  would  be  a  speech  not  so 
much  about  positive  things  which  have  grown  out  of  the 
adoption  of  that  great  instrument,  as  it  would  have  been 
a  speech  about  what  might  have  been,  if  the  Northwest 
Ordinance,  in  all  its  clauses,  had  been  written  into  the 
Southwest  Ordinance  and  those  other  documents  which 
were  later  drawn  to  provide  for  the  settlement  of  terri- 
tory south  of  the  Ohio  River.  It  has  seemed  to  me  that 
the  whole  subsequent  history  of  the  United  States  has 
turned  upon  some  omissions  in  those  papers  and  those 
documents. 

My  friends,  I  must  forbear  or  I  shall  talk  a  long  time 
about  the  Northwest  Ordinance — what  it  did  for  the 
Northwest,  what  it  yet  has  to  do  for  the  Northwest ;  for 
the  past  is  comparatively  unimportant  in  relation  to  the 
future.  We  celebrate  an  historical  anniversary,  but  we 
are  only  beginning  to  make  history.  This  is  a  very  early 
anniversary  of  the  Northwest  Ordinance.  This  is  a 
very  early  event  in  the  history  of  Marietta  College,  in 
the  history  of  Ohio,  in  the  history  of  the  great  North- 
west, in  the  history  of  our  country.  The  generations  go 
by  quickly;  the  centuries  go  by  quickly.  There  will  be 

200 


THE  COMMENCEMENT  PROCESSION 


THE  DISTINGUISHED  GUESTS 


many  anniversaries  in  Marietta  of  the  founding  of  Mari- 
etta College — many  semi-centennial  and  centennial  anni- 
versaries succeeding  each  other  of  great  historical  events. 
It  is  a  thrilling  thought  of  what  lies  before  us  in  the 
future,  and  it  is  a  very  inspiring  thought  what  we  may 
make  of  that  future. 

Now,  I  have  a  manuscript  here,  prepared  with  some 
conscience.  What  I  have  been  saying  is  not  in  the  manu- 
script. In  Congress  men  make  written  speeches  and  do 
not  speak  them,  but  obtain  leave  to  have  them  printed  in 
the  Congressional  Record.  Will  you  pardon  me  if  I 
read  from  this  prepared  address  a  few  paragraphs  pre- 
pared for  the  benefit  of  my  fellow-members  of  the  class 
of  1910? 

I  have  spoken  a  little  of  those  early  conditions  which 
had  to  do  with  the  settlement  here,  and  now  let  me  say 
a  few  words  about  the  people  who  came,  about  the  con- 
ditions of  their  coming.  This  ordinance,  the  Northwest 
Ordinance,  and  the  ordinance  for  the  settlement  of  the 
southwest  country,  resulted  in  the  mighty  shifting  of  the 
population  elements  in  the  western  movement.  Those 
who  wished  to  bring  their  families  up  in  the  atmosphere 
of  democratic  freedom  kept  to  the  northward  of  the  Ohio 
River  and  settled  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Wis- 
consin, Iowa,  and  Minnesota.  Those  who  were  carried 
away  by  the  possibilities  of  quick  wealth  and  the  allure- 
ments of  a  new  aristocracy  founded  on  race  caste  and 
money,  avoided  Illinois  and  kept  to  the  south  of  the  line 
that  separated  Iowa  from  Missouri.  Many  of  these 
who  followed  the  southward  drift  were  admirable  people, 
of  high  qualities,  who  somehow  failed  to  see  the  blight 
that  slavery  was  bound  to  cast  upon  new  commonwealths 
which  might  properly  have  been  protected  as  were  those 
north  of  the  Ohio  River. 

201 


Most  of  the  people,  indeed,  who  went  into  those  states 
were  of  good  intent,  even  if  not  trained  to  think  for 
themselves  and  to  see  ahead.  But  those  who  came  from 
the  Carolinas  and  Virginia  and  Kentucky  across  the 
Ohio  River,  to  join  hearts  and  hands  with  the  people 
from  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  New  England,  were 
for  the  most  part  men  and  women  of  individuality,  seri- 
ous qualities,  high  and  definite  aims. 

They  dotted  this  state,  and  other  states  which  were 
carved  out  of  the  Ohio  Territory,  with  little  farming 
communities  made  up  of  remarkable  people.  The  condi- 
tions of  travel  separated  these  frontier  people  by  a  long 
distance  from  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  and 
the  other  centers  of  early  Eastern  culture  and  influence. 
There  were  no  railroads  or  telegraphs  in  those  days,  and 
it  was  some  time  before  the  national  pike,  the  Ohio- 
Chesapeake  Canal,  steamboating  on  the  Ohio  River,  and 
the  Erie  Canal,  helped  to  bring  Ohio  closer  to  the  Atlantic 
seaboard. 

But  meanwhile  there  had  grown  up  in  Ohio  the  habit 
of  entire  independence  of  thought.  There  was  not  the 
slightest  consciousness  in  this  state  of  any  intellectual  or 
educational  dependence  whatsoever  upon  the  older  states 
of  the  East.  There  was  great  comfort  and  prosperity. 
With  the  passing  of  the  immediate  pioneer  stage,  which 
was  very  brief  in  Ohio,  there  followed  through  all  the 
ramified  valleys,  where  the  bottom  lands  were  rich,  a 
period  of  moderate  but  assured  prosperity  evidenced  by 
large  brick  houses,  ample  barns,  and  many  of  the  appoint- 
ments of  civilization  according  to  standards  then  pre- 
vailing. 

The  dignity  of  life  that  was  maintained  even  in  log 
houses  was  further  developed  in  the  substantial  brick 
and  frame  farm  houses  of  Ohio;  and  they  were  strong 
men  who  passed  from  these  farms  to  Ohio's  country 

202 


schools  and  country  colleges.  These  were  the  conditions 
that  have  made  for  Ohio  its  long  list  of  eminent  men, 
jurists,  senators,  governors,  great  generals  in  the  war, 
cabinet  advisers,  and  presidents,  from  the  two  Harrisons, 
Grant,  Hayes,  and  Garfield,  to  William  McKinley  and 
William  Howard  Taft. 

In  recent  days,  Ohio  has  suffered  much  reproach 
in  certain  quarters  for  having  established  such  a  great 
number  of  colleges.  No  state,  in  proportion  to  popula- 
tion, has  founded  nearly  so  many  as  Ohio.  Yet  it  would 
be  very  easy  to  confound  the  critics  of  this  state  of  things 
by  a  mere  intelligent  recital  of  all  the  facts.  Ohio,  in 
those  early  days,  was  dotted  with  scores  and  hundreds  of 
remarkable  communities  made  up  of  men  and  women 
who  loved  knowledge.  They  believed  both  in  the  present 
and  the  future  of  their  localities  and  their  state.  And 
they  proceeded,  not  pretentiously,  as  the  ill-informed 
might  suppose,  but  sensibly  and  modestly  and  thoroughly, 
to  do  their  best,  in  the  best  way  at  hand,  to  train  their 
sons  and  daughters  for  worthy  and  influential  life.  And 
so,  here  at  Marietta,  they  at  once  founded  your  Mus- 
kingum  Academy,  which,  with  good  teachers  and  a  high 
and  earnest  spirit,  gave  facilities  for  study  not  far  inferior 
to  those  then  existing  in  the  best  of  similar  institutions 
farther  east. 

It  was  everywhere  a  period  of  religious  fervor,  and  of 
a  denominationalism  that  had  its  purpose  and  its  historical 
justification — even  though  a  transient  thing  in  many  of 
its  phases — as  now  viewed  in  the  large  perspective.  And 
let  me  assert  that  it  was  to  the  high  credit  of  denomina- 
tionalism in  this  state  that  it  had  small  fear  of  truth,  of 
learning,  of  classical  culture,  of  the  leadings  of  science. 
Denominationalism  founded  its  little  academies,  which 
grew  into  colleges,  all  over  this  state.  It  did  not  hamper 
their  freedom  of  teaching.  It  did  not  lay  theological 

203 


restrictions  severely  upon  either  faculty  or  students. 
It  established  colleges  always  with  a  motive  of  advancing 
the  moral  and  mental  culture  of  the  community  rather 
than  that  of  aggrandizing  the  cult  or  the  denomination. 
One  of  these  was  Denison,  the  alma  mater  of  Governor 
Harmon,  chartered  almost  eighty  years  ago.  Another 
of  wide  fame  was  Kenyon,  chartered  eighty-six  years 
ago. 

The  test  of  an  institution  of  this  kind  is  in  its  vitality, 
its  power,  its  inspiraton.  No  college,  East  or  West,  ever 
made  a  scholar.  Scholars  make  themselves.  They  absorb 
the  pabulum  of  scholarship  inevitably.  It  is  in  the  air 
they  breathe;  it  is  their  food  and  drink.  Except  for  a 
precocious  genius  here  and  there,  whose  mental  develop- 
ment bears  little  relation  to  the  schools  he  may  have 
attended,  no  undergraduate  boy  is  to  be  deemed  a  scholar. 
Those  who  have  laid  the  foundation  for  scholarship  in 
schools  and  colleges  that  can  inspire  and  wisely  direct, 
are  doubtless  in  better  training  to  go  forth  and  to  become 
scholars  than  those  who  have  not  laid  such  foundations. 
Good  schools  and  colleges  train  men  of  scholarly  tastes 
and  start  them  on  their  well-chosen  paths  of  life.  In  so 
far  as  colleges  have  borne  essential  relation  to  scholar- 
ship, it  is  a  very  modest  statement  to  say  that  the  small 
colleges,  with  poorly  paid  professors  and  with  struggling 
students, — wholly  or  partly  working  their  way  through 
the  course, — have  hitherto,  in  this  country,  done  far 
more  to  establish  the  tastes  and  form  the  mental  habits 
that  lead  on  to  scholarly  attainments  and  power  than 
have  richer  and  better  equipped  institutions. 

It  is  not  so  much  the  business  of  such  a  college  to 
make  scholars  as  to  add  to  the  usefulness  and  value  of 
life.  When  I  use  the  word  scholar,  it  is  in  the  sense 
that  I  am  sure  no  one  will  misunderstand.  Scholarship, 
in  that  sense,  means  attainments  so  extensive  as  usually 

204 


to  imply  a  career  or  a  life  work.  There  are  such  men 
of  such  love  of  learning  in  all  pursuits  of  life  that  their 
attainments  in  certain  fields  of  scholarship  grow  wider 
and  deeper  with  the  passing  years,  even  though  these 
attainments  are  unrelated  to  their  professional  or  business 
vocations.  But  special,  distinctive  scholarship,  now- 
adays, as  a  rule  implies  an  academic  or  scholarly  career. 

The  modern  university  is  provided  with  facilities  for 
helping  young  men  lay  the  foundations  of  a  scholarly 
career  in  many  fields,  including,  also,  the  so-called  learned 
professions.  The  business  of  the  college,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  to  give  young  men  a  broad  intellectual  and  moral 
horizon;  right  habits  of  inquiry  and  thought;  some  true 
perspective  upon  the  course  of  human  history;  some  in- 
spiring associations  at  the  period  of  life  when  youth  is 
ripening  into  manhood;  and  some  ideals  by  which  to  be 
led  and  guided  as  the  young  man  or  young  woman  enters 
upon  the  active  life  about  him,  and  seeks  to  do  his  own 
work  and  make  his  own  place  among  his  fellows. 

This  work  for  its  students  is  what  our  American 
colleges  from  the  beginning  have  recognized  as  their  chief 
function.  If  some  of  them  for  a  time  should  seem  to  be 
adopting  other  standards  and  other  methods,  I  am  con- 
fident that  they  will  find  it  necessary  to  return  to  the 
earlier  point  of  view  as  to  the  place  that  our  colleges 
must  occupy  in  the  life  of  the  community. 

As  respects  their  courses  of  study,  our  best  colleges 
are  now  rapidly  conforming  to  certain  standards.  I  am 
very  glad  to  congratulate  you  of  the  graduating  class 
upon  the  very  high  standards  to  which  you  have  been 
held  here  at  Marietta.  Remember,  however,  that  high 
standards  for  admission  to  college  are  important  chiefly 
because  they  form  part  of  a  process  of  selection.  Their 
value  lies  in  their  helping  a  college  to  bring  together  a 
body  of  young  men  best  fitted  to  profit  by  the  opportu- 

205 


nities  it  gives,  and  most  likely  to  develop  that  power  for 
right  thinking  and  wise  leadership  that  our  American 
society  must  always  need  for  its  maintenance  and 
progress. 

There  was  a  time  when  it  was  not  so  easy  to  find 
the  opportunity  for  doing  the  preliminary  work  now 
required  for  college  admission.  Many  a  young  fellow 
of  splendid  qualities  of  mind  and  personality,  in  the 
earlier  days,  applied  for  admission  to  college  whose  prep- 
aration had  not  been  completed  in  our  present  symmet- 
rical fashion ;  yet  these  exceptional  young  men  were  able, 
in  college  preparatory  classes  or  otherwise,  rapidly  to 
make  up  their  "conditions,"  and  the  college  itself  was 
better  and  stronger  for  having  taken  them  in. 

And  when  once  the  college  body  is  formed, — as  col- 
lege life  is  renewed  in  the  early  autumn  for  another 
year, — I  should  hold  every  man  up  to  his  duty  as  he  goes 
along  from  day  to  day  and  from  week  to  week,  as  alertly 
and  as  unfailingly  as  men  are  held  to  their  duty  at  West 
Point  or  Annapolis.  I  am  not  in  sympathy  with  those 
colleges  that  throw  all  the  burden  of  training,  discipline, 
and  study  upon  the  high  schools  and  preparatory  schools. 

We  have  certain  famous  institutions  in  this  country 
that  set  the  mark  for  admission  to  the  freshman  class 
very  high.  Once  admitted,  the  students  live  and  work 
almost  as  they  please.  Their  progress  is  not  recorded 
on  the  basis  of  their  habits  or  daily  study,  of  classroom 
attendance,  or  of  diligent  devotion  to  their  proper  work; 
but  rather  upon  the  showing  they  may  make  at  certain 
times  in  written  examinations.  Hundreds  of  students, 
naturally  quick  witted,  whose  preliminary  work  in  the 
preparatory  school  had  been  good,  will,  under  this  sys- 
tem, spend  several  days  cramming  for  examination, 
often  with  the  help  of  a  paid  coach,  and  manage  to 
wriggle  through.  They  are  in  danger  of  coming  out  of 

206 


college  with  no  well-formed  habits  of  work,  and  less  fit 
for  the  struggle  of  life  than  when  they  entered  four  years 
before. 

In  such  institutions,  real  college  life  is  so  lacking, 
or  is  present  in  so  small  a  degree,  that  excrescences  upon 
college  life  spring  up,  and  unwholesome  tendencies  spoil 
what  should  be  a  pure  atmosphere.  The  situation  be- 
comes dominated  by  exclusive  sets  and  snobbish  cliques. 
Sybaritic  tastes  are  formed,  idle  and  vicious  lads  are 
allowed  to  live  luxurious  ways  not  permitted  abroad 
even  to  royal  princes  in  German  institutions,  or  to  young 
noblemen  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge.  It  is  not  only  pos- 
sible in  our  smaller  colleges  to  discourage  these  things 
that  destroy  the  fine  and  simple  spirit  that  should  prevail 
in  every  student  body,  but  it  is  also  possible  to  extirpate 
such  tendencies  at  their  very  beginnings,  precisely  as 
you  would  use  scientific  means  to  purify  your  water 
supply  if  you  found  an  incipient  typhoid  epidemic. 

But  college  athletics,  college  pleasures, — the  varied 
life  of  wholesome  recreation  and  youthful  diversion  that 
afford  so  large  a  fund  of  happy  memory  for  all  subse- 
quent years, — are  far  better  worth  while  when  kept  within 
reasonable  bounds  and  made  the  secondary  part  of  a 
life  in  which  thorough-going  hard  work  is  the  chief 
ingredient.  This  fortunate  admixture  of  work  and  play 
in  the  consistent  atmosphere  of  a  true  American  college, 
dominated  by  the  high  ideals  and  unbroken  traditions 
of  those  splendid  people  who  founded  this  commonwealth, 
is  what  you  have  had  here  at  Marietta,  and  what  your 
successors  will  continue  to  have. 

Do  not,  therefore,  permit  any  young  man  of  your 
day  and  generation,  East  or  West,  North  or  South,  to 
say  that  he  attended  a  better  college  than  yours.  For, 
let  me  tell  you,  if  you  should  ever  have  any  doubts  upon 

207 


that  point,  there  is  no  better  college  than  yours.  (Pause 
and  applause.)  For  your  college  has  given  you  all  that 
you  were  capable  of  receiving. 

You  have  not  needed  to  read  many  thousands  of 
books  thus  far,  but  you  should  have  learned  to  read 
wisely  and  understandingly,  when  you  read  at  all.  And 
far  more  than  all  the  books  you  could  possibly  have 
needed  have  been  within  your  easy  reach,  housed  in  this 
beautiful  library  on  your  campus.  The  ultimate  test  of 
the  worth  of  a  college  is  in  the  men  it  turns  out.  That 
is  one  reason  why,  for  its  own  sake,  as  I  have  been  insist- 
ing, a  college  should  be  so  careful  of  the  sort  of  material 
it  selects  at  the  beginning.  It  is  not  in  our  day  the 
business  of  a  typical  college  like  Marietta  to  see  what  it 
can  do  with  straightening  out  crooked  sticks. 

The  impress  these  institutions  place  upon  the  totally 
different  groups  of  young  men  who  cross  their  thresholds, 
is  a  thing  well  worth  considering  at  a  time  when,  in  some 
quarters,  men  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  the  chief  thing 
for  which  a  school  or  college  exists.  That  chief  thing 
is  the  fitting  of  young  men,  or  young  women,  to  live 
useful  and  happy  lives  for  themselves  and  their  imme- 
diate circle,  and  also  to  serve  valuably  in  the  life  of  the 
community  and  the  state. 

The  business  of  a  school  or  college  is  to  help  young 
men  love  the  truth,  hate  shams  and  frauds,  see  the  dignity 
and  worth  of  fine  character,  and  the  supreme  value  of 
moderation  and  self-control.  There  are  plenty  of  ways, 
in  our  day,  by  which  eager  minds  can  find  intellectual 
pabulum.  Libraries  are  everywhere,  books  are  cheap, 
the  newspapers  and  periodicals  supply  vast  quantities 
of  reading  matter,  much  of  which  has  educational  value. 
There  are  correspondence  schools  and  many  ways,  be- 
sides all  these,  by  which  young  people  who  do  not  attend 
college  may  learn  languages,  acquaint  themselves  with 

208 


ANDREWS  HALL 


classical  and  modern  literatures,  study  history  and  eco- 
nomics, and  follow  the  latest  researches  in  the  fields  of 
pure  and  applied  science. 

The  colleges  and  higher  schools,  therefore,  have  no 
longer  any  monopoly  of  learning.  Nor  does  the  stamp 
of  a  college  upon  a  man  furnish  any  sort  of  presumption 
of  superiority  over  other  men,  except  as  to  purity  of 
motives.  We  have  a  right  to  expect  college  men  to 
keep  a  high  sense  of.  honor  and  duty.  Let.  those  of  us 
who  are  known  as  college-bred  men  avoid  being  absurd 
by  arrogating  to  ourselves  any  sort  of  superiority  in 
culture  or  mental  power  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  we 
have  spent  a  few  years  in  colleges  or  universities.  Col- 
lege diplomas  and  degrees  do  indeed  assure  some  happy 
and  fortunate  associations;  but  they  cannot  make  for 
us  a  passport  to  an  aristocracy  of  culture. 

Those  boys  who  go  into  practical  pursuits  without 
going  to  college  will  at  least  have  formed  the  habit  of 
real  work  in  the  formative  period,  when  it  is  so  highly 
important  that  good  habits,  rather  than  bad  ones,  should 
be  cultivated.  The  very  condition  of  the  busy  world 
in  the  midst  of  which  they  are  plunged,  compels  them 
to  be  diligent. 

Let  us,  then,  who  are  of  the  college  understand  that 
nowadays,  if  one  can  have  good  school  advantages  up  to 
the  age  of  eighteen,  it  is  not  an  irreparable  loss  to  a 
young  man,  if  he  take  up  a  business  or  a  professional  life 
without  going  to  college. 

Is  there  not  a  little  danger  that  life  may  have  been 
too  comfortable  in  those  four  years?  Is  that  not  a  wise 
proverb  which  says  that  it  is  well  for  a  man  that  he  learn 
to  bear  the  yoke  in  his  youth?  Is  life  as  urgent  on  the 
work  side  as  it  ought  to  be  in  our  colleges?  Is  there 
not  too  much  mental  sloth  and  laziness?  Are  there  not 
too  many  long  summer  vacations  spent  in  idleness  or 

209 


mere  pleasure,  which  ought  to  be  spent  in  strenuous  effort 
of  some  kind?  Do  the  attainments  of  the  average  grad- 
uate of  our  large  colleges  justify  the  use  of  four  years 
of  time  and  the  expenditure  of  some  thousands  of  dollars  ? 
I  am  not  disparaging  college  life;  but  those  of  us  who 
are  college  graduates  and  who  are  perhaps  connected  with 
colleges  as  trustees,  or  in  other  capacities,  must  learn 
to  face  these  questions  honestly  and  without  illusions. 

College  life,  then,  is  good  for  the  individual  young 
man  or  young  woman  precisely  in  so  far  as  he  himself 
makes  it  good.  The  great  colleges  do  not  give  the 
average  young  man  nearly  such  a  desirable  chance  to 
get  the  benefit  of  college  life  as  do  the  best  of  our  smaller 
colleges.  The  exceptional  young  man  can,  indeed,  find 
his  way  through  the  big  college,  even  though  there  is 
nobody  to  guide  him.  He  can  form  his  own  habits  of 
industry,  even  though  there  are  no  standards  set  for  him 
as  at  West  Point,  where  every  man's  movements  must 
be  regular  and  quick.  The  exceptional  young  man  can 
get  along  very  well,  in  other  words,  whether  he  attend 
a  big  college,  a  little  college,  or  no  college.  But  the 
danger  for  the  young  man  who  is  not  exceptional,  and 
who  needs  some  guidance  and  training,  is  that  he  may 
not  be  in  the  environment  that  stimulates  his  highest 
efforts  and  that  holds  him  to  a  continuity  of  energetic 
effort  on  a  high  plane. 

The  intelligent  and  conscientious  young  man  who 
does  not  go  to  college  is  likely  to  be  greatly  stimulated 
by  the  inexorable  conditions  of  a  business  world  in  which 
the  principle  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  is  always  at 
work.  Yet  even  in  the  overgrown  colleges,  where  the 
poor  and  timid  student  is  made  the  more  shrinking  by 
conditions  that  do  not  force  him  to  the  front,  and  where 
the  rich  and  presentable  student  is  in  danger  of  yielding 
to  the  temptation  to  join  exclusive  circles  of  the  arrogant 

210 


and  self-indulgent, — even  in  these  overgrown  and  ill- 
adjusted  institutions  there  is  a  high  and  fine  tradition. 
It  has  come  down  to  us  as  a  heritage  of  early  academic 
life,  from  the  world  of  gentle,  secluded  study  and 
thought;  and  this  high  tradition  has  its  value,  and  it 
will  never  be  lost  to  us,  if  our  college  life  keeps  true  to 
its  best  aims. 

The  four  years  spent  in  college  can  and  should  be 
years  of  a  splendid  growth  in  power  and  in  fitness  for 
life.  It  is  because  of  the  greatness  of  the  opportunity 
that  the  college  career  affords,  that  I  hope  to  see 
eliminated  from  our  colleges  all  tendencies  that  destroy 
simplicity  and  unity,  and  that  divert  students  from  what 
is  best  to  things  that  are  inferior.  Nowadays,  living  as 
we  do  in  a  transitional  economic  period,  the  college  man 
should  be  trained  to  have  such  resources  in  himself  that 
the  possession  of  wealth  would  not  harm  him,  but  on  the 
contrary  would  increase  his  capacity  for  useful  service; 
while  the  accident  of  comparative  poverty  would  not 
degrade  him,  or  appreciably  diminish  that  pleasure  in 
a  resourceful  life  that  comes  with  an  open  mind  and 
cultivated  tastes. 

Thus  the  college  training  ought  to  fit  a  man  for  the 
fundamental  duties  and  pleasures  of  private  life.  Fur- 
ther than  that,  the  college  life  ought  to  fit  every  young 
American  for  taking  his  part  in  the  concerns  of  the 
community.  Nowadays  our  colleges  are  keen  in  their 
perception  of  the  needs  of  honesty  and  efficiency  in  gov- 
ernment and  politics.  Very  many  of  the  men  now  serv- 
ing most  valuably  in  the  public  life  of  our  states  and  of 
the  nation  have  been  directly  trained  for  their  careers 
of  usefulness  by  colleges  and  universities.  Our  colleges 
set  high  standards  of  duty  in  citizenship.  And  not  only 
that,  but  they  give  excellent  courses  in  American  history, 
in  political  and  social  science,  and  in  economics. 

211 


From  the  very  nature  of  its  origins,  your  own 
Marietta  College  has  borne  a  marked  and  well-recog- 
nized relationship  toward  this  kind  of  training  for  public 
usefulness.  You  have  had  capable  and  distinguished 
teachers,  who  have  recognized  the  needs  of  our  political 
life.  As  a  lad  I  studied  thoroughly  the  useful  little  trea- 
tise of  your  former  President,  Dr.  Andrews,  on  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  The  great  need  of  the  hour 
in  political  life,  as  in  our  general  economic  and  social 
organisms,  is  for  knowledge,  efficiency,  and  a  high  sense 
of  honor.  The  well-trained  college  man  is  able  to  see 
that  the  things  in  life  that  seem  small  may  have  as  much 
dignity  and  importance  as  those  that  are  commonly  re- 
garded as  worth  while  because  of  their  magnitude. 

All  the  principles  of  good  government  and  of  fine 
administration  may  be  just  as  well  applied  to  your  small 
city,  your  village,  your  county,  or  your  township,  as  to 
the  business  of  the  state  or  the  nation.  You  do  not  need, 
therefore,  to  seek  for  large  opportunities,  because  the 
seemingly  small  opportunity  that  lies  at  hand  is  in  most 
cases  the  preferable  one.  Moreover,  any  opportunity  is 
usually  important  enough  to  test  the  qualities  in  a  man. 

In  the  early  days  of  Ohio,  as  I  have  said,  there  were 
strong,  sagacious  people  in  all  our  little  communities. 
But  the  means  of  culture  were  not  so  readily  at  hand 
as  today.  Going  to  college  seemed  to  mean  more,  rel- 
atively, in  those  days  than  now.  The  distinction  between 
the  college-trained  man  and  his  brothers  and  cousins 
who  did  not  go  to  college,  was  greater  fifty  or  sixty 
years  ago  than  it  is  today.  Fifty  years  ago  the  students 
in  your  Ohio  colleges  were  very  largely  destined  to  enter 
what  were  then  called  the  learned  professions.  The 
religious  atmosphere  of  the  colleges  was  very  strong, 
and  a  large  percentage  of  young  men  went  to  college  in 
order  to  become  educated  for  the  ministry.  Next  largest 

212 


was  the  percentage  of  those  who  meant  to  take  up  law  as 
a  profession.  Next,  probably,  were  those  who  entered 
the  medical  profession,  although  the  percentage  of  those 
who  at  least  for  a  few  years  became  teachers  and  pro- 
fessors was  perhaps  largest  of  all,  because  teaching 
offered  a  ready  way  to  earn  the  money  necessary  for 
professional  study. 

A  very  marked  change  has  come  about  in  this  matter  of 
separating  certain  callings  in  life,  entitling  them  "learned 
professions,"  and  putting  them  on  a  higher  plane.  Every 
calling  has  now  become  professionalized,  or  is  in  that 
process.  I  do  not  need  to  name  the  newer  and  highly 
differentiated  professions  that  have  grown  out  of  the 
application  of  science  to  industry  and  life.  Commerce 
and  industry  themselves  have  become  professions,  divided 
into  many  special  fields.  Government  and  politics  are 
a  profession  in  the  high  sense,  and  it  should  no  longer  be 
a  reproach  to  be  called  a  "professional"  politician.  But 
railroading  is  also  just  as  truly  a  profession,  for  it  is  a 
great  branch  of  public,  social  administration.  And  the 
same  thing  is  true  of  banking,  of  insurance,  of  finance  in 
various  forms,  and  of  the  industrial  production  and  dis- 
tribution as  made  possible  by  corporate  management  with 
capital  and  machinery  and  systematized  labor. 

The  college  graduate,  therefore,  who  has  the  profes- 
sional instinct  and  spirit, — which  means,  always,  a  spirit 
of  service  to  the  community  in  some  worthy,  special  field 
of  knowledge  and  effort, — no  longer  needs  to  become 
a  lawyer,  a  doctor,  a  clergyman,  or  a  professor.  Almost 
every  field  of  work  can  nowadays  be  entered  upon  from 
the  point  of  view  of  a  man  who  not  only  wishes  to  make 
a  living,  but  also  feels  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  make 
his  daily  work  minister  to  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  men. 

Now,  a  few  words  in  conclusion.  A  great  state  like 
this  commonwealth  of  Ohio  needs  to  be  maintained  and 

213 


built  up,  on  the  one  hand  in  its  material  resources,  on 
the  other  hand  in  the  quality  and  character  of  its  people. 
And  this  sentence  contains  the  essence  of  the  thing  I 
should  like  to  say  to  the  members  of  this  graduating  class 
as  my  distinctive  message  for  them.  It  takes  land  and 
material  resources,  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  grouping  and 
organization  of  people  on  the  other  hand,  to  make  that 
entity  that  is  in  our  minds  when  we  use  the  word  state. 
The  state  is  the  people  organized  in  relation  to  their 
domain  and  its  resources ;  and  it  is  the  land  and  its  appur- 
tenances in  relation  to  the  people.  Ohio  was  splendidly 
endowed  by  nature  to  be  the  home  of  an  enlightened 
body  of  men  and  women.  It  was  singularly  fortunate 
in  that  it  was  settled  by  precisely  the  kind  of  men  and 
women  fitted  to  occupy  its  lands  and  to  develop  its  re- 
sources. The  New  England  hills  were  settled  by  a  noble 
class  of  people,  but  their  resources  of  soil  and  climate 
were  relatively  inferior.  The  best  vitality  of  New  Eng- 
land, therefore,  emigrated  to  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
where  soils  were  richer  and  all  the  endowments  of  nature 
more  congenial. 

We  have  seen  great  changes  come  over  the  civiliza- 
tion of  New  England,  and  we  have  seen  remarkable 
changes  and  developments  in  the  farther  West.  But  in 
Ohio  we  have  seen  something  like  a  measured,  stable 
progress.  Ohio  is  full  of  little  communities  whose  pres- 
ent-day life  is  the  orderly  outgrowth  of  their  original 
settlement;  while  in  thousands  of  New  England  com- 
munities there  is  scarcely  anybody  left  to  cherish  the 
memories  of  the  forefathers.  The  whole  country  has 
passed  through  a  period  of  pioneering.  Its  virgin  soils 
have  been  wasted,  its  forests  have  been  sacrificed,  and 
its  condition  calls  for  new  methods  in  a  new  era.  The 
incidental  waste  of  the  pioneer  period  can  be  remedied. 
The  virtues  of  the  pioneer  people  have  made  the  country 

214 


great.  The  kind  of  energy  those  people  displayed  in 
creating  our  commonwealths,  we  must  now  use  in  con- 
serving and  enriching  what  they  established. 

Our  great-grandfathers  made  clearings  in  the  Ohio 
forests,  built  log  houses,  and  were  pioneer  farmers.  If 
they  were  alive  today,  with  our  advantages  and  oppor- 
tunities, they  would  be  scientific  farmers,  raising  great 
crops  without  impoverishing  their  soil,  making  every 
wagon  road  in  the  state  better  than  the  old  turnpikes  of 
two  generations  ago,  and  exhibiting  under  new  condi- 
tions all  the  dignity  that  the  best  of  them  somehow  were 
able  to  maintain  even  in  their  log  cabins.  For  even  in 
the  early  day  many  of  those  farmers  were  readers  and 
thinkers,  naturalists,  men  of  political  sagacity,  and  real 
founders  of  communities  and  states. 

Do  not  think,  therefore,  that  the  facilities  of  our  new 
century  could  make  us  much  superior  to  those  men  of 
the  early  day.  We  can  hardly  hope  to  equal  them  in  cer- 
tain qualities  of  individual  self-reliance,  and  in  marked 
personality.  If  we  can  only  live  as  well  under  our  con- 
ditions as  they  lived  under  theirs,  we  shall  do  well  indeed. 

The  great  cities  of  this  state,  or  of  other  states,  may 
draw  a  good  many  of  you  into  those  central  operations 
of  business  or  professional  life  that  are  necessitated  by 
modern  conditions.  But  it  has  always  seemed  to  me  thatr 
unless  a  man's  work  of  necessity  required  him  to  trans- 
plant himself,  the  best  place  for  him  must  be  somewhere 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  place  where  he  naturally  belongs. 
I  have  known  physicians  in  country  and  city.  My  father, 
trained  in  the  old  medical  schools  of  Cincinnati,  was  a 
physician,  politician,  and  farmer  in  the  Miami  Valley; 
and  I  hive  a  great  respect  for  the  country  physician 
who  has  a  love  of  land  and  an  instinct  for  politics.  I 
have  also  known  city  lawyers  and  country  lawyers;  and 
I  have  a  special  admiration  for  the  country  lawyer  of 

215 


rounded  experience,  who  can  draw  up  a  will  or  defend 
a  criminal.  I  have  known  many  newspaper  men, — those 
who  edit  metropolitan  papers  and  those  who  live  in 
smaller  towns  and  edit  what  we  call  the  country  news- 
papers. I  have  a  high  opinion  of  the  position  of 
the  country  newspaper,  with  its  marvelous  oppor- 
tunity to  build  itself  into  every  useful  and  whole- 
some concern  of  its  town  and  its  county.  The 
country  editor  can  help  the  minister  to  preach  good 
conduct  and  high  standards  of  living.  He  can  help  the 
lawyers  and  the  courts  to  keep  order  and  maintain  high 
standards  of  justice  among  men.  He  can  help  the  phy- 
sicians to  train  the  community  in  public  and  private  sani- 
tation. He  can  help  the  teachers  maintain  good  schools. 
He  can  take  a  worthy  part  in  the  political  life  of  his  town 
and  county  and  state.  He  can  help  build  up  the  material 
and  business  resources  of  his  neighborhood.  He  can 
make  constant  use  of  the  great  weapon  of  publicity  to 
keep  local  government  clean  and  efficient.  He  can  spread 
the  gospel  of  scientific  farming  throughout  his  county, 
and  lead  in  the  movement  for  good  roads.  He  can,  in 
short,  work  in  a  calling  that  helps  to  heighten  the  effi- 
ciency of  all  other  useful  callings. 

The  best  profession  of  all  in  the  light  of  modern 
science  is  the  venerable  profession  of  farming.  It  re- 
quires more  knowledge  than  any  other,  and  has  at  least 
as  high  a  dignity  as  any. 

It  is  not  true  that  the  trusts  and  corporations  have 
shut  the  door  of  opportunity,  or  that  there  was  ever  a 
better  time  than  our  own.  All  that  our  young  college 
men  need  is  to  be  perfectly  willing  to  begin  life  wherever 
decent  and  useful  opportunity  presents  itself,  at  the  very 
foot  of  the  ladder  if  need  be.  They  may  rise  upon  their 
own  merits,  without  pushfulness  or  greedy  disregard  of 
the  right?  or  welfare  of  other  people. 

216 


The  test,  henceforth,  of  our  college  men  is  to  be 
found  in  the  qualities  they  show  under  test  and  trial. 
In  a  state  like  Ohio  let  them  stand  for  the  maintenance 
and  further  development  of  material  resources,  and  above 
all  let  them  stand  for  intelligence,  character  and  high 
principle  as  distinguishing  marks  of  the  population. 
Thus  the  colleges  of  Ohio,  so  useful  in  the  last  century, 
may  show  an  even  higher  efficiency  in  helping  the  state 
and  the  country  to  meet  the  problems  that  must  arise  in 
the  century  upon  which  we  are  now  well  entered. 


217 


CONFERRING  OF  DEGREES. 


The  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  was  then  conferred 
upon  thirty  members  of  the  graduating  class,  and  the 
Degree  of  Master  of  Arts  upon  two  candidates. 

Honorary  degrees  were  then  conferred  by  the  Pres- 
ident, each  recipient  being  introduced  by  Dean  Schoon- 
over  as  follows: 

DOCTOR  OF  LAWS. 

Edwin  Augustus  Grosvenor,  Professor  of  Modern 
Government  and  International  Law  in  Amherst  College. 
He  is  National  President  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  is  honored 
as  teacher  and  scholar  and  is  fascinating  as  a  narrator 
of  history. 

Albert  Shaw,  a  graduate  of  Grinnell  College  and 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  is  the  founder  and  editor 
of  the  American  Review  of  Reviews,  noted  as  a  lecturer 
and  writer  on  Political  Science,  Economics,  and  Munici- 
pal Government,  a  keen  critic  of  daily  national  and  inter- 
national events,  loyal  to  high  ideals  in  church  and  state. 

Edwin  Dwight  Eaton,  President  of  Beloit  College, 
beloved  and  esteemed  as  a  leader  of  youth,  an  efficient 
college  administrator,  attested  by  long  and  honored  serv- 
ice, representative  of  the  colleges  of  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory. 

John  Elbert  Sater,  a  graduate  of  Marietta  College 
of  the  class  of  1875,  distinguished  as  a  lawyer,  eminent 
and  sagacious  as  a  judge,  he  has  shown  himself  most 
capable  and  efficient  in  the  performance  of  his  duties; 
he  is  a  loyal  friend  of  Marietta  College. 

218 


DOCTOR  OF  DIVINITY. 

Alexander  Brown  Riggs,  Professor  of  New  Testa- 
ment Exegesis  and  Introduction  in  Lane  Theological 
Seminary.  A  former  student  of  Marietta  College  of  the 
class  of  1863,  a  profound  interpreter  of  Scripture,  he 
is  representative  of  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  which 
has  always  been  closely  associated  with  this  College. 

Frank  Wakely  Gunsaulus  was  given  the  Degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity  in  absentia. 

DOCTOR  OF  HUMANITIES. 

Frank  Goodrich,  Professor  of  European  History  in 
Williams  College,  a  teacher  and  author  of  distinction, 
representative  of  Williams  College,  the  alma  mater  of 
two  Presidents  of  Marietta  College,  one  of  whom  served 
the  College  for  fifty  years. 

Henry  Eldridge  Bourne,  Professor  of  History  in 
Western  Reserve  University,  is  honored  as  a  scholar 
and  author,  beloved  for  his  sympathy  for  students,  for 
his  kindly  helpfulness  and  for  his  effective  teaching, 
representative  of  Adelbert  College,  a  sister  institution 
of  our  own  state,  with  aims  and  purposes  like  our  own. 

Williston  Walker,  Professor  of  Church  History  in 
Yale  Divinity  School,  President  of  the  American  Society 
of  Church  History,  distinguished  as  author  and  teacher, 
representative  of  Yale  University,  which  sent  the  first 
preceptor  to  Muskingum  Academy. 

DOCTOR  OF  PEDAGOGY. 

William  Waddle  Boyd,  Dean  of  the  College  of  Edu- 
cation of  Ohio  State  University;  he  is  a  graduate  of 
Marietta  College  in  the  class  of  1884,  an  expert  organizer 
of  schools,  a  wise  leader  in  educational  movements,  a 
representative  of  Ohio  State  University,  the  center  and 
crown  of  the  school  system  of  this  commonwealth. 

219 


Governor  Judson  Harmon,  on  Tuesday  evening,  was 
given  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

President  William  Howard  Taft,  on  Wednesday,  was 
given  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Civil  Law. 

Prizes  and  honors  were  then  announced. 


At  the  conclusion  of  these  exercises  the  academic 
procession  was  reformed  and  marched  to  the  Goshorn 
Gymnasium,  where  the  Alumni  Banquet  was  held. 


220 


THURSDAY,  JUNE  16,  NOON. 

ALUMNI  BANQUET  AT  GOSHORN  HALL, 


After  dinner  Mr.  M.  A.  Hayes,  '80,  retiring  president 
of  the  Alumni  Association,  introduced  the  toastmaster 
of  the  day: 

Members  of  the  Alumni  Association: 

It  gives  me  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  as  the  last  act 
of  my  presidency  to  introduce  one  whom  you  all  want 
to  see  today.  It  is  a  privilege  to  introduce  one  who  has 
done  a  great  deal  for  our  College,  and  one  whom  we 
always  like  to  welcome  back  to  Marietta,  your  toast- 
master,  the  Hon.  Charles  G.  Dawes,  of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Dawes:     Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

Whatever  have  been  the  motives  which  have  drawn 
the  most  of  you  here,  I  am  sure  that  the  hearing  of 
extended  remarks  by  the  toastmaster  is  not  one  of  them. 
My  time  has  been  spent  not  in  efforts  to  paralyze  you 
with  a  historical  address,  but  to  find  my  old  friends  and 
playmates  of  twenty-five  years  ago.  The  town  having 
become  "dry"  since  I  was  here,  and  their  usual  haunts 
closed,  it  has  not  been  until  this  noon  that  I  have  been 
able  to  find  them.  Here  they  are  in  good  condition. 

I  have  not  time  to  say  what  I  would  like  to  say  in 
congratulation  to  the  faculty  of  the  College,  to  the  cit- 
izens of  Marietta,  and  to  the  students  of  the  College  upon 
the  magnificent  celebration  which  we  have  witnessed 
during  the  last  few  days  of  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary 
of  Marietta  College.  Certainly  no  celebration  was  ever 
more  admirably  planned  or  better  carried  out  than  this 
which  we  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  witness. 

221 


Our  time  is  limited  this  afternoon,  as  there  are  many 
to  take  the  3:35  train  from  town,  and  the  toastmaster, 
the  real  toastmaster,  has  entrusted  me  with  the  disagree- 
able duty  of  asking  the  speakers  to  be  brief,  including 
myself.  I  shall  also  ask,  before  I  am  through,  the  Hon. 
William  G.  Sibley  to  take  this  chair  in  my  place. 

We  are  honored  today  in  having  with  us,  to  speak  on 
behalf  of  the  colleges  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  Pres- 
ident Edward  D.  Eaton,  of  Beloit  College,  whom  I  have 
great  pleasure  in  introducing. 

Mr.  Eaton :  Mr.  Chairman,  President  Perry,  Alumni 
and  Friends : 

It  was  said  by  a  man  present  at  a  revival  service  of 
great  power,  where  a  great  many  seemed  to  be  receiving 
the  light,  on  being  asked  if  he  were  not  a  believer,  "Oh, 
no;  I  belong  to  a  different  denomination."  Now,  the  feel- 
ing among  the  colleges  is  very  different.  We  have  all 
belonged  to  the  same  brotherhood,  and  no  one  can  be 
present  here  at  this  time  without  a  feeling  of  enthusiasm 
and  pleasure  upon  an  occasion  so  great  as  this.  I  have 
teen  present  at  Yale  and  elsewhere  upon  great  occasions, 
and  this  event  ranks  well  with  them.  You  may  be  proud 
of  this  gathering  and  of  this  celebration  which  you  have 
been  holding  here.  We  have  reason  for  enjoying  this 
gathering  beyond  what  appears  on  its  face,  because  we 
are  all  linked  together;  we  are  a  sisterhood  of  states, 
and  we  owe  our  origin  to  that  great  ordinance;  and  as 
the  President  of  our  country  said,  Marietta  was  the 
gateway  through  which  New  England  found  its  way 
into  the  imperial  West.  And  certainly  the  colleges  of 
these  five  great  states,  of  which  Wisconsin  is  the  largest, 
owe  very  much  to  Marietta  and  those  great  men  who 
founded  this  city,  college,  and  commonwealth,  and  this 
great  Northwest  Territory. 

222 


At  Beloit,  we  have  on  our  faculty  still  a  venerable 
and  noble  man,  William  Porter,  who  has  been  working 
for  more  than  forty  years,  and  who  began  work  at  Mari- 
etta. President  Andrews,  a  college  friend,  asked  him 
to  take  his  place  as  teacher  of  mathematics  for  two  years 
while  he  was  raising  money,  and  so  perhaps  the  oldest 
living  member  of  your  faculty  is  now  at  Beloit.  And 
Beloit  gave  to  you  my  own  beloved  and  honored  class- 
mate, Joseph  Hanson  Chamberlin,  twelve  years  your  first 
dean  of  the  College,  whose  sterling  character  and  great 
ability  underlies  the  modern  life  of  this  College.  He 
was  a  large  gift  to  your  College,  and  doubtless  you  are 
duly  grateful  for  a  gift  of  that  sort. 

For  ten  years  I  have  known  and  admired  President 
Perry.  I  know  many  of  the  Western  college  presidents 
and  I  honor  them,  but  if  I  were  to  make  a  choice  of  col- 
lege presidents, — if  you  will  pardon  me, — I  think  you 
have  the  pick  of  them  all.  You  have  had  a  great  list  of 
presidents.  President  Andrews  was  the  ideal  of  my  boy- 
hood. It  is  a  great  thing  for  you  to  have  had  as  a  great 
leader — a  man  with  the  qualities  of  leadership  that  are 
permanent.  President  Eliot  once  said  in  a  gathering  of 
college  men,  "When  I  became  President  of  Harvard,  a 
friend  of  mine  said  to  me,  'Now  you  think  that  you 
are  going  to  make  a  good  president  because  you  have 
this  gift  or  that  gift.  I  will  tell  you  what  is  your  greatest 
gift  or  lack  of  gift.  The  greatest  thing  for  a  college 
president  is  patience.' '  It  takes  great  patience  to  lead 
a  college  like  this  to  a  great  future,  and  you  have  one 
who  combines  the  greatest  wisdom  and  dignity,  energy, 
courtesy,  and  kindness  of  them  all.  Take  good  care  of 
him,  and  send  him  off  for  a  good  rest.  He  is  tired  out; 
and  may  he  be  president  here  at  least  as  long  as  President 
Andrews  was. 


You  have  a  great  history.  The  history  of  our  great 
Northwest  begins  substantially  here.  We  come  back  here 
to  this  very  beautiful  city  to  pay  our  homage  to  the  found- 
ers of  all.  I  believe  that  you  are  entering  upon  a  career 
of  great  prosperity.  May  this  gateway  grow  ever  larger, 
that  through  it  more  and  more  there  may  come  to  all 
the  Northwest  and  all  our  country  and  the  world  the 
noblest  ideas  in  Christian  college  education. 

Toastmaster  Dawes :  Williams  College  has  furnished 
two  presidents  for  Marietta  College,  President  Israel  W. 
Andrews  and  our  present  President  Perry.  It  is  espe- 
cially proper  that  we  should  hear  from  Williams  College, 
which  is  represented  by  Professor  Frank  Goodrich,  who 
will  now  address  us. 

Professor  Goodrich:  Mr.  Chairman,  President  of 
Marietta  College,  Alumni,  and  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men : 

Surely,  on  my  own  behalf,  but  more  especially  on  be- 
half of  the  college  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  I 
wish  to  express  to  the  President  and  Trustees  of  Marietta 
College  the  deepest  gratitude  for  the  honor  you  have  this 
day  conferred,  and  for  the  graceful  recognition  of  those 
long-standing  and  vital  relations  which  have  prevailed 
between  Marietta  College  and  Williams — between  the 
older  Williams  of  New  England  and  what  we  are  inclined 
to  call  the  New  Williams  of  the  West. 

It  is  surely  not  for  me  in  this  place  to  emphasize  the 
importance  of  Williams  to  the  life  of  Marietta.  That  has 
been  done.  I  wish  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  ideals  of 
Williams  and  of  Marietta  have  been  in  the  past,  and  will 
(is  my  most  fervent  hope)  remain  in  the  future,  essen- 
tially the  same.  I  am  convinced  that  no  Williams  rep- 
resentative worthy  of  the  name  could  possibly  fail  to  feel 

224 


a  renewed  inspiration,  a  new  hope,  a  new  courage,  a 
new  faith,  in  pursuing  those  ideals  by  upholding  the 
record  that  has  been  unfolded  to  us  in  these  past  days. 
I  feel  that  it  is  indeed  a  great  privilege  to  participate 
in  the  celebration  of  this  glorious  past.  I  have  been 
deeply  impressed  by  that  faith,  that  courage,  that  heroic 
and  persistent  effort,  that  noble  devotion  and  self-sac- 
rifice, which  have  accomplished  so  much  in  this  place, 
and  with  a  deep  sense  of  these  qualities,  it  gives  me  very 
especial  pleasure  to  extend  to  'Marietta  College — to  its 
president,  its  faculty,  its  trustees,  its  alumni — from  Wil- 
liams College  the  most  cordial  greetings  and  the  most 
genuine  congratulations  for  past  and  present  success  and 
best  wishes  for  the  highest  success  and  prosperity  in  the 
future. 

Toastmaster  Dawes:  We  will  next  hear  from  Pro- 
fessor A.  B.  Riggs,  of  Lane  Theological  Seminary. 

Professor  Riggs:  Mr.  Chairman,  Alumni,  and 
Friends  of  Marietta :  It  is  a  double  pleasure  to  me  to  be 
here,  first,  as  an  Alumnus  of  this  institution  of  many 
years'  standing,  and  second  as  the  representative  of  one 
of  the  oldest,  if  not  the  oldest,  theological  seminaries  west 
of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  Its  charter  antedates  the 
charter  of  Marietta  College,  though  not  of  Muskingum 
Academy,  out  of  which  Marietta  has  sprung.  Its  theo- 
logical career  began  in  1832,  under  the  matchless  leader- 
ship of  that  prince  of  preachers  and  theologians,  Lyman 
Beecher,  the  first  President  of  Lane  Seminary.  Its  orig- 
inal charter  as  an  agricultural  school  for  the  training  of 
young  men  for  the  Gospel  ministry  dates  back  to  1827. 
It  has  its  final  form  of  charter,  excepting  a  few  amend- 
ments, dating  1835,  and  graduated  its  first  class  in  1836. 
So  that  you  will  observe  that  we  have  followed  along 


the  same  lines  of  building  up  society  that  Marietta  Col- 
lege so  proudly  and  justly  boasts  of — laying  the  founda- 
tions of  society  in  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  institution  took  its  initiation  from  a  gift  that 
was  made  by  two  Baptist  men,  brothers,  by  the  name  of 
Lane,  who  had  business  interests  in  New  Orleans,  who 
had  formerly  lived  in  Cincinnati,  and  who  gave  the  first 
money  for  the  establishment  of  the  institution  out  of 
which  Lane  Theological  Seminary  grew,  and  from  that 
date  to  this  Lane  Seminary  has  represented  that  broad 
type  of  Christianity  which  welcomes  to  its  classrooms 
any  form  of  evangelical  faith  in  its  students.  While  we 
are  associated  with  the  Presbyterian  denomination,  we 
have  had  in  our  classrooms  during  the  past  year  three 
or  four  Methodists,  half  a  dozen  Baptists,  and  a  good 
many  Presbyterians. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  bring  to  you  the  congratula- 
tions of  Lane  Seminary,  lying  in  the  southwest  section 
of  Ohio,  to  you  who  stand  here  in  the  southeast  section 
of  the  State — our  heartiest  and  warmest  congratulations 
upon  your  past  history  and  present  achievement,  and  our 
most  sincere  hopes  that  the  future  of  Marietta  will  be 
brighter  and  better  even  than  its  past  under  its  present 
and  future  competent  leaders. 


[In  May,  1843,  Lane  Seminary  united  with  Marietta, 
Illinois,  Wabash,  and  Western  Reserve  Colleges  in  form- 
ing the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Collegiate  and  Theo- 
logical Education  at  the  West,  which  was  the  channel 
through  which  funds  from  the  East  came  to  these  strug- 
gling institutions  for  many  years.  The  second  president 
of  Marietta,  Henry  Smith,  and  one  of  its  first  professors, 
D.  H.  Allen,  went  to  Lane  Seminary  and  taught  there 

226 


for  many  years.  Further,  a  very  large  number  of  Mari- 
etta graduates  have  been  students  at  Lane,  in  all  about 
120.] 


Toastmaster  Dawes :  I  am  now  going  to  resign  this 
position  to  Mr.  William  G.  Sibley,  of  Gallipolis. 

Mr.  Sibley:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  We  will  now 
be  addressed  by  the  Reverend  B.  G.  Matson,  representing 
Andover  Seminary. 

Mr.  Matson:  Mr.  Toastmaster:  Andover  is  said 
to  be  so  small  as  not  to  be  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and 
therefore,  if  I  am  to  represent  so  far  away  a  luminary 
in  the  ecclesiastical  astronomic  heavens,  it  may  be  well 
that  I  be  the  first  one  to  accept  the  suggestions  of  this 
note,  but  I  bear  witness  that  it  is  the  first  time  I  have 
ever  paid  any  attention  to  an  anonymous  letter. 

Andover  Theological  Seminary,  of  New  England  and 
the  Christian  World,  has  commissioned  me  as  one  of  her 
younger  sons  now  in  Ohio,  to  bear  the  fraternal  greet- 
ings of  President  Fitch  and  the  Trustees  of  the  College, 
and  the  Faculty,  to  this  great  institution  here  at  the 
junction  of  these  two  rivers. 

Andover  has  changed  her  location  and  not  her  name. 
Marietta  has  kept  her  location  and  I  imagine  has  been 
married  at  least  three  times,  for  I  find  on  this  little  book- 
let four  separate  names.  We  will  count  the  first  a  bap- 
tismal name  and  the  others  as  the  ones  she  took  in  the 
different  periods  of  her  life.  Whether  you  pronounce 
the  name  in  one  way  or  another,  "Mary"  or  "Etta," 
"Mary  Etta"  or  Marietta,"  I  think  it  is,  after  all,  the 
same  institution  and  has  joined  hands  with  that  great 
fellowship  of  the  democracy  of  the  seekers  after  truth — 

227 


a  line  that  has  stretched  across  all  the  winding  centuries 
from  those  days  when  words  were  familiar  speech  like 
unto  those  that  were  spoken  to  us  from  the  lips  of  the 
Salutatorian  this  morning.  Today  we  take  the  language 
which  is  rapidly  becoming  the  speech  of  the  civilized 
world  and  in  it  we  express  our  friendship  in  the  great 
democracy  of  souls.  Andover  Seminary,  representing 
what  the  theologians  are  pleased  to  call  the  queen  of 
sciences,  sends  her  greeting  to  all  other  princes  of  sci- 
ences and  all  others  who  are  joined  together  to  find  their 
way  into  this  new  era — this  modern  world — and  who 
carry  with  us  some  of  our  oldtime  seeker-for-truth 
methods,  and  go  forth  from  the  portals  of  every  school 
bearing  the  impress  of  character,  of  an  open  mind,  and 
of  culture  itself,  with  the  determination  to  do  things  that 
are  eternal. 

And  so  I  think  that  Andover  Seminary  may  be  said 
to  represent  that  illustration  of  the  Heroism  of  Scholar- 
ship, from  the  days  when  she  championed  the  liberty  of 
the  theologian  to  think  in  the  words  and  thoughts  of  the 
modern  age  and  to  restate  the  truths  of  eternity  as  each 
thinker  was  privileged  to  think  them.  That  is  the  atmos- 
phere and  condition  of  scholarship  in  every  institution 
of  learning,  whether  theological  or  professional  or  purely 
for  culture. 

So  if  we  go  back  to  some  of  the  old  institutions  of  the 
Old  World,  Oxford  or  Cambridge  or  Berlin,  we  will  find 
there  continued  through  the  generations  a  real  continuity 
of  mind  with  mind,  so  that  the  passage  of  years,  the 
celebration  of  diamond  jubilees,  does  not  signify  the 
going  on  of  the  old,  but  rather  signifies  the  perpetual 
usefulness  of  the  true  scholar.  So,  if  I  were  to  voice 
the  wish  of  Andover  Seminary  for  Marietta,  it  would 
be  that  these  seventy-five  years  just  concluded  might  be 


simply  the  setting  of  the  first  diamond  in  a  diadem  of 
diamond  jubilees  that  shall  continue  to  adorn  the  brow 
of  this  College,  sitting  as  it  does  on  the  brow  of  this 
noble  hill,  for  generations  and  generations  that  are  yet 
to  be. 

President  Perry:  I  should  like  just  to  call  attention 
to  one  significant  fact  that  of  the  first  faculty  of  Mari- 
etta College  in  the  year  1835  consisting  of  five  men,  four 
came  directly  from  Andover  Seminary  to  become  pro- 
fessors in  Marietta,  establishing  thus  a  connection  be- 
tween Andover  and  Marietta  which  we  are  glad  to  rec- 
ognize today. 

Toastmaster  Sibley :  In  this  assemblage  there  is  not 
one,  I  am  sure,  who  will  not  be  glad  to  hear  from  Pro- 
fessor Grosvenor,  President  of  the  National  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  Society.  I  did  not  have  myself  the  honor  to  be 
elected  to  that  society.  It  seems  that  a  certain  degree  of 
scholarship  is  necessary  in  order  to  be  admitted  to  the 
mysteries  of  that  body,  and  that  did  not  happen  to  me, 
but  I  am  sure  I  will  be  quite  as  pleased  to  hear  Pro- 
fessor Grosvenor  as  any  brother  or  sister  who  is  a  mem- 
ber of  that  body. 

Professor  Grosvenor:  Mr.  President,  and  Ladies 
and  Gentlemen :  In  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  fraternity  there 
are  divisions.  There  is  sometimes  a  sentiment  in  the 
great  state  universities  against  the  smaller  and  more  his- 
torical colleges  and  it  is  impossible  to  point  to  all  the 
arguments  in  favor  of  one  or  the  other,  but  for  the  justi- 
fication of  the  speaker  I  wish  to  state  one  single  instance 
that  I  think  will  make  every  person  here,  man  or  woman, 
whether  member  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa  or  not,  feel  as  if  they 


were.  In  one  of  these  discussions,  a  gentleman  repre- 
senting one  of  the  great  universities  of  the  West  was 
deploring  the  fact  that  these  smaller  colleges  had  their 
men  and  women  enrolled  on  equal  terms  with  those 
institutions  that  reckon  their  endowments  by  the  tens 
of  millions  and  their  graduates  by  the  thousands.  The 
representative  of  the  smaller  college  was  a  Marietta  man. 
Said  he,  "I  tell  you  that  there  is  not  a  single  graduate  of 
Marietta  College,  whether  in  Phi  Beta  Kappa  or  out  of 
Phi  Beta  Kappa,  that  hasn't  had  a  better  education  than 
any  member  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa  from  any  one  of  the 
great  state  universities."  I  must  very  frankly  say  that 
I  am  not  uttering  any  sentiment  of  my  own.  I  am  sim- 
ply making  the  statement  of  the  gentleman  who  thus 
referred  to  his  education  at  Marietta,  and  we  therefore 
concede  the  man  from  Marietta  to  be  fully  equal  to  the 
best,  and  doubtless  superior  to  the  average  of  those  who 
were  educated  at  the  larger  institutions. 

An  English  member  of  Parliament  in  this  country 
a  few  years  ago  commenced  a  speech  like  this :  "Every 
man  must  love  his  native  country  whether  he  was  born 
there  or  not,"  and  when  the  laughter  went  over  the  faces 
of  the  audience  he  felt  that  he  must  correct  it,  and  said : 
"Every  man  must  love  his  native  country  even  if  he  was 
born  somewhere  else."  Again  he  saw  that  he  had  made 
a  mistake  and  he  arose  and  said:  "I  wasn't  born  here, 
but  I  feel  just  as  though  I  was." 

I  ask  not  only  the  members  of  this  privileged  class 
of  1910,  but  I  ask  any  alumnus  or  any  alumna  of  Mari- 
etta if  any  more  exquisite  picture,  more  suggestive,  more 
significant,  more  eloquent,  can  be  presented  than  even 
the  walks  about  those  hallowed  buildings,  even  when  the 
trees  are  stripped  of  their  leaves;  and  I  wonder  if  there 
is  any  emblem  or  insignia  of  any  sort  that  more  appeals 

230 


to  the  heart  than  does  this  small  round  symbol  (indicat- 
ing alumni  button),  slight  in  size,  and  yet  meaning  so 
much.  And  what  I  am  coming  to  is,  that  though  it  was 
not  my  privilege  in  previous  days  to  wander  about  these 
walks  and  breathe  the  air  under  these  glorious  trees,  and 
though  the  awarding  of  this  button  is  only  conferred 
upon  me  by  the  kindness  of  those  who  would  do  me 
honor,  there  are  no  things  that  I  rejoice  at  in  my  life 
or  in  which  I  take  more  abiding  pride,  than  that  I  stand 
here  different  from  the  man  who  came  within  your  hal- 
lowed enclosures,  because  then  I  was  simply  a  visitor 
to  this  grand,  sublime  and  historic  city,  but  I  am  now 
at  least  an  honorary  member  of  your  Alumni,  privileged 
to  sit  at  your  banquets  as  one  of  you,  and  I  doubt  not 
to  be  remembered  when  the  secretaries  of  the  Alumni 
Association  send  about  circulars  annually  reminding  of 
dues  still  to  be  paid. 

I  cannot  pay  too  great  respect  to  the  scholarship  of 
Marietta  College.  Representing  as  I  do  today  that  old 
Society  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  let  me  say  even  in  this 
place,  where  some  are  members  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa  and 
all  are  deserving  of  membership  in  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  that 
in  all  our  splendid  circle,  in  the  whole  country  there  is 
not  one  chapter  more  gracious,  not  one  that  shines  with 
more  starry  luster,  not  one  that  brings  larger  returns, 
not  one  that  expects  more  of  its  members,  men  and 
women,  than  does  Gamma  Chapter  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
in  this  imperial  State  of  Ohio. 


After  a  brief  speech  from  Mr.  Frank  Adair  on  behalf 
of  the  class  of  1910,  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Little,  in  a  witty 
speech,  paid  a  high  tribute  to  Mr.  William  W.  Mills  and 
his  services  to  the  College,  to  which  Mr.  Mills  made  fit- 
ting response,  receiving  an  ovation  from  the  Alumni  as 

231 


he  rose  to  speak.  The  toastmaster  then  called  for  the 
College  Yell,  which  was  given  heartily,  and  the  exercises 
of  the  dinner  were  brought  to  a  close. 

In  the  evening  the  Campus  was  beautifully  illumi- 
nated and  a  great  crowd  was  present  at  the  President's 
reception  in  the  Library  building.  This  made  a  fitting 
conclusion  to  this  successful  and  significant  celebration 
of  the  Diamond  Jubilee  of  Marietta  College. 


232 


INDEX  OF  ADDRESSES. 

Page. 
Introduction    3 

Outline  Program    5 

Phi  Beta  Kappa  Anniversary,  Tuesday  Morning. .  11 

History  of  Gamma  Chapter.    C.  E.  Corwin. ...  13 

The  Exalted  Vocation.    Edwin  A.  Grosvenor.  .  17 

Presentation  of  Certificates 30 

Alumni  Meeting,  Tuesday  Afternoon. 

The  Jubilee  Fund.    W.  W.  Mills 32 

The  Early  Years.     Martin  R.  Andrews 37 

President  Andrews'  Administration.     William 

W.  Jordan 49 

The  Later  Years.    Laurence  X.  Dana (>:2 

Address  on  Muskingum   Park.       Governor  Judson 

Harmon  76 

Alumni  Meeting,  Tuesday  Evening. 

Conferring  of  Honorary  Degree  upon  Governor 

Harmon   SI 

Greeting   from  the    State.      Governor    Judson 

Harmon  83 

Marietta  in  the  Civil  War.    Douglas  Putnam . .      88 
Marietta  in  Missions.    William  G.  Ballantine.  .    101 

Anniversary  Service,  Wednesday  Morning 110 

Historical  Survey.     Alfred  T.  Perry. 113 

Historical  Ode.     Muriel  C.  Dyar 124 

The  Heroism  of  Scholarship.     Frank  W.  Gun- 

saulus   130 

233 


Address  on  Muskingum  Park.     President  William 

H.  Taft 149 

Muskingum     Academy     Anniversary,     Wednesday 

Afternoon    159 

Conferring  of  Honorary  Degree  upon  President 

Taft    160 

Response  of  President  Taft 163 

The  Ohio   Company   and    Education    in    the 
Northwest.     Henry  E.   Bourne 164 

Greeting    from    Yale    University.       Williston 
Walker 184 

Greeting    from    Ohio    Colleges.     William    O. 
Thompson    188 

Commencement  Exercises,  Thursday  Morning 195 

Address.     Albert  Shaw   199 

Conferring  of  Degrees 218 

Alumni  Banquet,  Thursday  Afternoon 221 

Greetings  from  the  Colleges  of  the  Northwest 

Territory.     Edward  D.  Eaton 222 

Greeting  from  Williams  College.    Frank  Good- 
rich    224 

Greeting  from  Lane  Seminary.    A.  B.  Riggs.  .   225 
Greeting    from    Andover     Seminary.      B.    G. 

Matson 227 

Greeting  from  Phi  Beta  Kappa.     Edward  A. 
Grosvenor  .   229 


234 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The  College  Campus,   1910 Frontispiece 

The  Faculty  of  1870 8 

The  Faculty  of  1910 24 

The  "Old  Dorm" 32 

The  Campus  of  1850 40 

The  Campus  of  1880 40 

The  Campus  of  1890 48 

The  Campus  of  1900 64 

The  Former  Presidents 72 

Governor  Judson  Harmon 80 

President  Taft  at  the  Mills'  Homestead 88 

Governor  Harmon  in  Marietta 88 

The  Two  Secretaries,  Douglas  Putnam  and  W.  W. 

Mills    9-6 

The  Library 104 

The  Old  First  Church   112 

The  New  First  Church 112 

President  Alfred  T.  Perry 120 

Interior  of  Library 128 

President  Taft  on  Muskingum  Park 144 

The  Ordinance  of  1787 152 

President  William  H.  Taft 160 

Muskingum  Academy 168 

Marietta   Historical   Museum 184 

The  Slack  Collection 192 

The  Commencement  Procession 200 

Andrews  Hall   208 

Fayerweather  Hall   .  216 


235 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


29Feb  '60BM 


'C    I  D 


• 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


